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C.  K.  OGDEN 

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in  2007  with  funding  from 

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DIPLOMACY 

AND 

THE   STUDY   OF 

INTERNATIONAL    RELATIONS 


Oxford  University  Press 

London  Edinburgh         Glasgow  New  I'ork 

Toronto     Melbourne     Cape  Town     Bombay 

Humphrey   Milford    Publisher  to  the    University 


DIPLOMACY 

AND  THE 

STUDY  OF 

INTERNATIONAL 

RELATIONS 


BY 


D.    P.    HEATLEY 

LECTURER   IN    HISTORY,    UNIVERSITY   OF   EDINBURGH 
AUTHOR  OF  'STUDIES   IN  BRITISH   HISTORY  AND  POLITICS* 


OXFORD 

AT  THE  CLARENDON  PRESS 

1919 


PREFACE 

In  this  work  an  attempt  is  made  to  portray  diplomacy  and 
the  conduct  of  foreign  policy  from  the  standpoint  of  history, 
to  show  how  they  have  been  analysed  and  appraised  by  repre- 
sentative writers,  and  to  indicate  sources  from  which  the 
knowledge  thus  acquired  may  be  supplemented.  The  sources 
could  have  been  very  much  expanded.  Those  that  I  have 
indicated  are  such  as  have  been  of  use  to  myself — most  of 
them  for  many  years ;  and  I  believe  that  some,  at  least,  of 
them  will  be  useful  to  the  citizen  as  well  as  to  the  student. 

The  conduct  of  foreign  policy  affects  no  people  more 
vitally  than  the  British.  The  nature  of  their  constitutional 
system  and  the  magnitude  and  complexity  of  the  interests 
ultimately  entrusted  to  their  determination  invest  the 
electorate  with  special  privileges  and  a  special  responsibility. 
The  actual  conduct  of  foreign  policy  must  be  committed  to 
the  hands  of  a  few.  But  it  is  now  clear  to  many  who  had  given 
little  thought  to  the  matter  before  1914  that  there  are  grave 
dangers  in  keeping  the  bulk  of  the  electorate  uninstructed 
regarding  the  general  character  and  the  imperious  demands 
of  our  foreign  connexions.  Sir  John  Seeley  drew  attention  ^ 
to  the  comparative  neglect  with  which  British  historians  of 
Britain  had  treated  her  foreign  policy,  and  in  a  section  of  the 
present  work  ^  it  is  pointed  out  that  writers  on  our  constitution 
and  on  our  political  problems  have  treated  very  slightly  of 
the  manner  of  conducting  the  foreign  policy  of  this  country, 

^  See  p.  168.  ^  See  pp.  172-5. 


vi  Preface 

and  of  the  nature  of  the  responsibility  incurred.  Our  political 
classics  may,  no  doubt,  be  made  to  yield  in  knowledge  of 
general  principles  and  in  a  general  habit  of  mind  in  politics 
what  will  compensate  for  the  lack  of  special  knowledge  regarding 
the  activities  and  character  of  any  one  sphere  of  government, 
however  important  that  sphere  be.  But  political  classics  and 
the  training  they  provide  touch  only  a  small  number.  To  the 
British  citizen  of  to-day  our  own  political  classics  cannot 
seem  to  bear  directly  on  the  political  problems  that  confront 
him  and  those  who  act  for  him.  The  citizen  of  the  United 
States  of  America  is  more  happily  placed.  In  the  wealth  of 
her  writings  on  politics  since  the  sixteenth  century — in  their 
number  and  in  their  high  worth — Britain  is  not  surpassed 
even  by  France ;  and  yet  there  is  no  work  which  the  British 
citizen  of  to-day  can  read  with  so  much  benefit  for  the  under- 
standing of  the  political  system  of  his  country  as  that  which 
the  American  citizen  derives  from  the  reading  of  Jhe  Federalist 
as  a  commentary  on  the  written  constitution  of  the  United 
States  at  the  time  of  its  making,  and  as  an  exposition  of  rights 
and  duties  of  an  active  citizenship.  More  may  be  said  :  there 
is  no  British  work  on  politics  that  will  better  repay  perusal 
and  thought  by  the  British  citizen  of  to-day  than  this  American 
political  classic. 

7he  Federalist  contains  lessons  which  recent  discussions  at 
Westminster  that  have  not  yet  spent  themselves  make  highly 
pertinent.  The  power  of  making  treaties,  it  said,  is  plainly 
neither  a  legislative  nor  an  executive  function.  Its  objects  are 
contracts  with  a  foreign  nation,  which  have  the  force  of  law, 
but  derive  that  force  from  the  obligation  of  good  faith.  We 
find  Jay  protesting  against  the  democrat  extremists  of  his 
time  and  country  who  claimed  that  treaties  should  be  made 
by  the  same  authority  as  acts  of  assembly,  and  should  be 
subject  to  repeal  at  pleasure ;    and  Alexander  Hamilton  saw 


Preface  vii 

in  the  composition  and  character  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives sufficient  grounds  for  rejecting  the  claim  that  it  should 
be  admitted  to  a  share  with  the  President  and  the  Senate  in 
the  making  of  treaties,  Hamilton  did  not  forecast  a  smooth 
path  of  peace  and  amity  for  his  country.  '  It  ought  never  to 
be  forgotten ',  he  wrote  in  The  Federalist  of  February  22, 
1788,  *  that  a  firm  union  of  this  country  under  an  efficient 
government,  will  probably  be  an  increasing  object  of  jealousy 
to  more  than  one  nation  of  Europe  ;  and  that  enterprises  to 
subvert  it  will  sometimes  originate  in  the  intrigues  of  foreign 
Powers,  and  will  seldom  fail  to  be  patronized  and  abetted  by 
some  of  them.'  Even  in  '  The  Farewell  Address '  of  Washing- 
ton, which  came  from  the  pen  of  Hamilton,  all  is  not  idealism 
and  hopefulness  in  the  sphere  of  foreign  relations.  But 
Hamilton's  impressive  warning  in  The  Federalist  against 
endowing  the  House  of  Representatives  with  a  share  in  the 
treaty-making  power  rests  on  reasoning  and  carries  significance 
that  are  not  confined  either  to  his  own  day  or  to  his  own 
country.  *  Accurate  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  foreign 
politics ;  a  steady  and  systematic  adherence  to  the  same 
views ;  a  nice  and  uniform  sensibility  to  national  character  ; 
decision,  secrecy^  and  dispatch,  are  incompatible  with  the 
genius  of  a  body  so  variable  and  so  numerous.' 

No  apology  should  be  needed  for  the  attention  given  in 
this  book  to  works  on  International  Law  and  on  the  History 
of  International  Law.  Political  Science  without  History,  it 
has  been  said,  has  no  root ;  and  History  without  Political 
Science  has  no  fruit.  The  history  of  international  relations 
has  fruit  for  each  age  in  treaties,  which  the  international 
lawyer  interprets  as  expressions  of  movement  of  thought,  and 
in  the  developing  of  conventions  and  standards  that  are 
recognized  in  the  Society  of  Nations.  In  the  history  of 
International  Law  is  shown  a  large  part  of  the  fruit  of  the 


viii  Preface 

intercourse  of  nations.    The  two  studies  have,  of  late,  been  too 
much  severed  in  this  country. 

A  concluding  section  of  the  book,  apart  from  the  Appendix, 
treats  of  *  International  Morality :  Projects  of  Perpetual 
Peace  :  The  Society  of  Nations '.  The  standpoint  throughout 
this  work  is  historical ;  and  History  does  not  give  much  en- 
couragement to  the  promulgators  of  schemes  of  Perpetual 
Peace.  But  historians  and  historical  students  of  politics  and 
policy  should  not  too  readily  submit  to  the  charge  that  they 
can  provide  no  principles  for  guidance ;  that  they  are  slaves 
to  *  the  event ',  and  can  furnish  nothing  better  than  maxims 
finely  qualified  to  the  point  of  timidity  ;  that,  like  the  Cyclops, 
they  have  but  one  eye,  and  that  it  looks  behind  only,  and, 
according  to  the  poet-moralist's  censure  of  the  historian, 
takes  delight  in  the  blazoning  of  '  power  and  energy  detached 
from  moral  purpose '.  Everything,  it  was  said  by  a  recent 
Continental  statesman,  may  be  left  in  part  to  the  hazards  of 
the  unforeseen — everything  except  the  fortunes  of  nations. 
The  historian  of  international  policy  will  add  all  the  weight 
of  his  knowledge  and  authority  to  the  school  of  caution  and 
pre-cautions  in  statesmanship.  But  the  lessons  he  draws,  or 
merely  permits  to  disclose  themselves,  from  the  past  are  not 
sunk  in  gloom  so  deep  that  he  may  not  say  with  Tocqueville, 
*  I  will  not  beheve  in  the  darkness  merely  because  I  do  not 
clearly  see  the  new  day  that  is  to  arise '. 

The  main  Appendix  consists  of  two  parts.  The  first  gives, 
within  its  space  and  scope,  a  selection  of  passages  from  writers 
to  illustrate  phases  and  features  of  diplomacy.  These  extracts 
were  given,  according  to  my  first  plan,  in  illustration  of  the 
thought  and  standpoint  of  each  of  the  authors  cited,  and  were 
included  in  the  seventh  section  of  *  The  Study  of  International 
Relations '.  My  thanks  are  due  to  the  publishers'  advisers, 
and  especially  to  Mr.  H.  W.  C.  Davis,  of  Balliol  College,  for 


Preface  ix 

the  suggestion  that  they  should  be  arranged  according  to 
subject  and  printed  as  an  Appendix.  In  this  form  they  are 
likely  to  be  of  more  use.  The  second  part  of  the  Appendix 
treats,  almost  wholly  in  the  words  of  primary  authorities,  of 
a  number  of  practical  questions  bearing  on  the  modern  and 
quite  recent  and  prospective  conduct  of  foreign  policy,  in 
illustration  of  the  text  and  as  a  supplement  to  the  notes. 

At  the  beginning  of  1916  I  wrote  a  very  few  pages  intended 
to  help  towards  the  study  of  international  relations.  They 
were  written  for  The  Historical  Association  of  Scotland,  and 
were  reprinted  for  The  Historical  Association  (of  England). 
In  the  course  of  this  work  I  have  made  use  of  what  I  then 
wrote. 

D.  P.  H. 


CONTENTS 

DIPLOMACY  AND  THE   CONDUCT  OF   FOREIGN 
POLICY 

PAGE 

Right  and  Wrong  in  Politics           .......  i 

Experiences  and  testimonies  of  two  historians           ....  2 

Policy          ...........  4 

Standpoint  in  estimate  of  policy     .......  6 

Views  on  the  diplomatic  service      .......  7 

Educational  equipment  for  the  service    .          .          .          .          .          .  1 1 

The  diplomatist's  qualities     ........  14 

The  rise  and  development  of  the  function  of  the  ambassador     .          .  16 

Machiavellism  ;   diplomacy  and  Machiavellianism    ....  22 

The  opportunity  for  subterfuge  and  finesse  :    national  interest  and 

the  absence  of  the  international  sense      .....  27 

The  effect  of  the  telegraph  on  initiative  and  responsibility         .          .  30 

Opinions  regarding  diplomatic  morality  ;  and  illustrations          .          .  31 
Kinds  of  diplomacy       .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .39 

The  diplomacy  of  courtesy    ........  39 

The  weapon  of  irony     .........  41 

Personal  illustrations  of  diplomacy          ......  43 

Oliver  Cromwell  ..........  44 

Thomas  Cromwell          .........  45 

Difficulty  in  the  conduct,  and  in  the  study,  of  international  policy     .  48 
Dispatches  and  '  extracts '     .          .          .          .          .          .          .          '49 

The  chief  danger  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy     .          .          .          •  5' 
The  relation  of  the  constitutional  system  to  the  conduct  of  policy : 

illustrations           .........  52 

Parliament,  party  and  control  in  Britain  :    criticism  from  a  Con- 
tinental historian  and  publicist       ......  57 

A  survey  of  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy  in  Britain  under  a  par- 
liamentary system ;  and  criticisms  .  .  .  .  .61 

Democratic  control  necessarily  indirect :   a  Duke  of  Albany  in  diplo- 
macy :  diplomacy  still  a  means  to  ends  .....  68 


Contents 


XI 


Supplementary  Notes : 

A  :  Anti-Machiavel  Literature 

B  :  Machiavelli  on  the  Office  of  an  Ambassador 

C  :  The  Balance  of  Power       .... 

D  :  Secret  Diplomacy  of  Louis  XV 

E  :  Frederick  the  Great  on  Parliaments   . 


PAGE 
76 

77 
79 
80 
81 


THE   LITERATURE   OF   INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS 

L  INTRODUCTORY.      THE     SCOPE    OF    THE     STUDY    OF 
DIPLOMACY 
Le  Guide  Diplomatique       ........       85 

2.  GENERAL  GUIDE 

Les  Archives  de  VHistoire  de  France     ......       89 

3.  JURISTIC     LITERATURE  :     Development    of     International 

Understandings  as  '  Law  ' 

1.  (a)  Wheaton,  History  oj  the  Law  oj Nations 

His  general  conclusions 

[b)  Nys,  Les  Origines  du  Droit  International 

(c)  Walker,  A  History  of  the  Law  of  Nations  (to  the  Peace  of 

Westphalia)  . 

2.  Treatises  of  International  Law 

Those  influential  for  each  age 

Vattel :  his  standpoint 

Fox  on  Vattel  . 

Vattel  appealed  to  on  contraband 

Sir  James  Mackintosh  on  Vattel  and  his  predecessors    . 

Martens  {G.  F.  von)  :   his  positivism    .... 

Importance  assigned  by  him  to  treaties 

His  interpretation  of  the  balance  of  power   . 

Effect  of  the  Wars  of  the  French  Revolution  and  Napoleon 

Wheaton  :  an  estimate  of  his  Elements  of  International  Law 

More  recent  writers   ....... 

Sir  Robert  Phillimore  :   the  value  of  his  Commentaries  to  the 

student  of  History 
His  interpretation  of  the  balance  of  power 
Sir  Travers  Twiss  :   his  *  Juridical  Review '  of  the  results  of 

recent  wars,  and  his  presentation  of  treaties  . 


9» 
93 

95 

96 
96 
96 
96 

97 
98 
100 
100 
103 
104 
105 
106 
107 

107 
108 

108 


xu 


Contents 


His  tribute  to  Grotlus        ....... 

His  estimate  of  the  effects  of  the  French  Revolution 
The  parts  of  his  work  of  value  to  the  student  of  History 
W.  E.  Hall :    his  attachment  to  facts,  and  historical  treat- 
ment of  subjects  ....... 

Causes  celibres  du  droit  des  gens  ...... 

Sir  Frederick  Pollock  on  international  law  and  the  government 
of  the  Society  of  Nations      ...... 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  CONTROVERSIAL  LITERATURE 
'  Tbe  Sovereignty  oj  the  Sea  '     . 

Samuel  Pepys  and  '  our  making  of  strangers  strike  to  us  at  sea  ' 
Mr.  S.  R.  Gardiner  on  the  assertion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea 

a  '  monstrous  '  claim 
Its  considerable  importance     . 
Gentili  and  Spanish  claims 
Three  British  writers 

1.  William  Welwod     . 
Tbe  Sea-Lato  oJ  Scotland  :  a  book  extremely  rare 
An  Abridgement  oJ  all  Sea-Lawes  :  its  scope 
Its  chapter  '  Of  the  Community  and  Propriety  of  the  Seas 
An  allusion  to  Grotius's  Mare  Liberum 
Continuity  and  identity    ..... 
Welwod's  distinction  :  Welwod  and  Grotius 
Wclwod's  De  Dominio  Maris     .... 
Selden  and  Welwod  ..... 

2.  Selden 

The  controversy  a  '  battle  of  books  ' ;  and  more 
Grotius's  Mare  Liberum  and  Selden's  Mare  Clausum 

3.  Boroughs:  Tbe  Soveraignty  oJ  tbe  British  Seas 
The  occasion  of  writing  it  .  .  . 
The  occasion  of  publishing  it     . 
An  analysis  of  the  work   .... 
The  riches  of  the  British  seas    . 
The  need  for  asserting  rights,  and  for  learning  lessons  from 

the  Hollanders  ..... 

'  The  most  precious  Jewell  of  his  Maicsties  Crowne  ' 


PAGE 

109 
no 
III 

112 
"3 

114 


116 
116 

116 
117 
119 
119 
119 
119 
120 
121 
122 
125 
125 
127 

I2g 
128 
129 

130 

»3i 
»32 
»33 
'35 

»37 

>39 
141 


Contents 


Xlll 


6.  TREATIES 

'  Les  archives  des  nations  ' 

The  relation  of  a  treaty  to  '  the  law  ' 

Collections  of  Treaties 

{a)  General    .... 
[b)  British      .         . 

Originals  of  British  Treaties 

6.  MAPS  ;  and  their  historical  background 
The  Map  of  Europe  by  Treaty  :  its  high  value 

7.  SUPPLEMENTARY  READING 

1.  (a)  Machiavelli 

(b)  Guicciardini 

(c)  Aphorismes  Civill  and  Militarie 
Thucydides  and  Tacitus 

2.  '  Anti-Machiavel '  writings 

3.  {a)  Life  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Cromwell 

(b)  Clarendon,  History  of  the  Rebellion 

(c)  Oliver  Cromwell's  foreign  policy 

4.  Gentilis,  (a)  De  Legationibus,  and  (b)  De  Abusu  Mendacii 

5.  {a)  Vera,  Le  Parfait  Amhassadeur  (traduit  de  I'Espagnol  par  le 

Sieur  Lancelot)  ...... 

{b)  Wicquefort,  V  Ambassadeur  et  ses  Fonctions 

Translation  by  John  Digby  .... 

(c)  Callieres,  De  la  Maniere  de  negocier  avec  les  Souverains 

(d)  Martens  (Charles  de),  Le  Guide  Diplomatique 
Scope  of  the  work     .  .  .  .  . 

(e)  Satow,  A  Guide  to  Diplomatic  Practice 

6.  (a)  Frederick  the  Great,  UHistoire  de  mon  Temps 

When  alliances  may  be  broken  .... 
The  interest  of  the  State  and  of  rulers  :  seizing  the  occasion 
(i)  Clausewitz,  On  War  .... 

Allies  and  the  means  of  defence 
Influence  of  the  political  object  on  the  military 
War  an  instrument  of  policy 

7.  Sorel,  V Europe  et  la  Revolution  fran^aise 

8.  Malmesbury,  Diaries  and  Correspondence 

9.  Bernard,  Four  Lectures'on  Subjects  connected  with  Diplomacy 


142 
142 
143 
143 
144 

145 
146 

149 
149 
149 

150 

151 

152 
153 
154 
155 
156 
156 

157 
160 
160 
161 
161 
161 
162 
163 
164 
164 
164 


xiv  Contents 

PAGE 

10.  HoUitid,  Sttidies  in  International  Law 165 

11.  Parliamentary  Reports  and  Papers  on  diplomatic  practice  and 

procedure  .........     166 

8.  LITERATURE  OF  RECENT  BRITISH  DIPLOMACY 

Historical  Works 168 

The  Crown,  Ministers,  Parliament,  and  the  conduct  of  Foreign  Policy     1 72 

Tbe  Letters  of  Queen  Victoria 173 

Memoirs  and  Biographies  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .176 

Parliamentary  and  State  Papers  .         .         .         .         .         .176 

0.  LITERATURE  OF  INTERNATIONAL  ETHICS 

1.  Citizenship  of  the  world 177 

2.  The  mediaeval  ideal       .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         •'^77 

3.  Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace    •         .         .         .         .         .         •     179 

L' Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre,  Projet  de  la  Paix  perpetuelle       .  •     '  79 

The  link  in  the  Projects  of  Saint-Pierre,  Rousseau,  Bentham, 

and  Kant i8t 

Rousseau  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .182 

The  problem  expressed  in  terms  of  the  5ocui/ Con/ract         .     182 
Rousseau  and  the  study  of  international  relations       .          -183 
His    contribution    to   the    promulgation    of    Projects    of 
Perpetual  Peace 187 

Bentham  ..........     195 

Two  *  fundamental  propositions  '  of  his  '  Plan  '  .  .     196 

The  establishment  of  a  common  tribunal  .         .         .         -197 
Colonics  and  trade  and  war      .  .  .  .  .  .197 

The  international  sanction        .  .  .  ,  .  .198 

The  place  of  Bentham's  Plan  in  his  scheme  of  thought  199 

Kant         ..........     200 

His  insistence  on  conditions  to  be  satisfied         .  .     200 

The  essay  '  Perpetual  Peace ',  and  Kant's  political  thought     201 
The  agreement  of  Rousseau  and  Kant :   the  supra-national 

disposition  ........     207 

Politics  and  Ethics     ........     208 

Conclusions  of  two  recent  English  thinkers         .  .  .     208 

The  Family  of  Nations         .......     210 

Hooker  on  the  Law  of  Nations     ......     212 


Contents  xv 

APPENDIX  I 

EXTRACTS  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  AMBAS- 
SADOR, THE  QUALITIES  OF  THE  DIPLOMATIST,  AND  THE 
CONDUCT  OF  NEGOTIATIONS 

PAGE 

1.  Tbe  Function  of  the  Ambassador  .         .         .         .         .         .216 

(i)  Vera  :  Definition  de  la  Charge  d'Ambassadcur         ,  ,  .     216 

Qui  fut  I'auteur  de  la  premiere  Ambassade  .  .  .     217 

(2)  Wicquefort :  Of  the  Function  of  the  Embassador  in  general      .     217 

(3)  Callieres  :  Des  Fonctions  du  Negociateur         .         .         .         .219 

(4)  Martens  (Charles  de)  :  Des  Fonctions  de  1' agent  diplomatique  .     220 

2.  Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist         .......     220 

(i)  Bon  Ambassadeur  :  Bon  Orateur  ......     220 

(2)  {a)  Of  the  birth  and  learning  of  an  Embassador       .  .  .     221 
{b)  Des  Connoissances  necessaires  et  utiles  a  un  Negociateur     .     223 

(3)  General  Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist       .....     224 

Du  Choix  des  Negociateurs         ......  224 

Des  Qualitez  et  de  la  Condulte  du  Negociateur     .  .         .  226 

(4)  The  Need  for  Courage  and  Firmness  :  Un  homme  de  sang  froid  228 
{a)  En  quel  cas  un  Ambassadeur  peut  temoigner  sa  hardiesse 

&  son  courage      ........  228 

(b)  Of  Moderation         ........  229 

(c)  La  fermete  :  un  homme  naturellement  violent  &  emporte    .  229 

(5)  Machiavellianism     and     Anti-Machiavellianism :      Ruse     and 

Counter-ruse     .........     230 

(a)  Comment  un   Ambassadeur  doit  proceder  entre  I'utile  & 

I'honneste  .........     230 

De  la  menterie  officieuse  .......     230 

(b)  Of  Prudence  and  Cunning         .         .         .         .  .  -233 

(c)  Advice  for  one  *  destined  for  the  foreign  line  '     .         .         .     234 

(6)  Miscellaneous  Considerations  ......     237 

(a)  Qu'un  Ambassadeur  doit  estre  sobre  ....     237 

(b)  Whether  Clergymen  are  proper  for  Embassies     .         .  .     237 

(c)  Si  I'Ambassadeur  se  peut  servir  I'entremise  des  femmes  pour 

le  progrez  de  ses  affaires        .         .         .         .         .         .238 

3.  The  Conduct  of  Negotiations        .......     239 

De  I'utilite  des  Negociations        .......     239 

Observations  sur  les  manieres  de  negocier    .         .         .         .         #239 


xvi  Contents 

PAGE 

S'il  est  utile  d'envoyer  plusieurs  Negociateurs  en  un  meme  Pays  240 

Des  negociations  diplomatiques  .......  240 

Diplomatic    Correspondence  :      Instructions ;     Letters    and    Dis- 
patches ;  Cipher        ........  242 

Of  Treaties 249 

APPENDIX  II 

1.  Tbe  ejject  oj  telegraphic  communications  upon  the  responsibility  oj 

diplomatic  missions :    Evidence  of  Lord  Stratford  de  RedcliflFe, 

Sir  A.  Buchanan,  Lord  John  Russell       .  .  .  .  .251 

2.  Publication   of  Dispatches  :     '  Secret   Diplomacy  '  :     Evidence   of 

Lord  Wodehouse,  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  Lord  Stratford  de 
Redclific,  Lord  Cowley,  Lord  John  Russell      ....     253 

3.  The  Marquess  Wellesley  on  the  Spanish  Supreme  Central  Junta       .     259 

4.  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Treaty-making  Power  :    the  Cession  of  Heli- 

goland ..........     260 

5.  Opinions  oj  British  Foreign  Secretaries  on  publicity  and  responsi- 

bility in  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy :    Lord  Palmerston  ;    the 
Earl  of  Clarendon  ;  the  Marquess  of  Salisbury  ;  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour     263 

6.  The   Treatment   of   International   Questions    by   Parliaments   in 

France,  Germany,  and  the  United  States  of  America         .  .     270 

Democracy  and  the  conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  ....     279 

7.  The  Dominions  and  the  Control  oj  Foreign  Policy  .  .         .     282 

INDEX 285 


DIPLOMACY 

AND   THE 
CONDUCT   OF   FOREIGN    POLICY 


2224 


DIPLOMACY  AND  THE  CONDUCT  OF 
FOREIGN  POLICY 


Mr.  Freeman,  who  had  the  keen  interest  of  a  politician 
and  partisan  in  questions  of  foreign  policy  in  his  own  day,  as 
well  as  the  profound  knowledge  of  the  historian,  once  described 
an  experience  he  had  as  a  magistrate  in  petty  sessions.^  He 
had  to  examine  two  witnesses,  each  of  whom  was  required  to 
give  an  account  of  a  certain  conversation.  One  of  them  pre- 
sented his  view  of  what  passed  in  the  words,  '  They  all  began 
to  talk  politics,  putting  questions  to  me  that  I  could  not 
answer '.  The  other  witness,  describing  the  same  conversation, 
said, '  They  began  to  talk  about  the  rise  of  the  world,  and  Adam 
and  Eve '.  Mr.  Freeman  remarked  that  the  definition  of 
politics  implied  in  the  second  of  these  statements  had  often 
come  before  his  mind  since  the  words  were  spoken.  He 
thought  that  the  man  who  looked  upon  a  discussion  about 
'  the  rise  of  the  world,  and  Adam  and  Eve  '  as  coming  under 
the  head  *  politics  '  showed  an  acute  sense  of  what  politics 
really  are.  '  A  conversation  about  the  rise  of  the  world  would 
be  very  apt  to  pass  into  theological  discussion,  and  theological 
discussion  is  very  apt  to  pass  into  more  strictly  political 
discussion.  .  .  .  Every  political  question  is  a  question  of  our 
duty  as  a  nation  ;  it  is,  therefore,  a  moral  question.'  Mr.  Free- 
man thought  he  took  this  view  of  politics  himself  during  the 
two  years  of  storm  and  stress  in  the  history  of  the  Eastern 

^  Thompson,  Public  Opinion  and  Lord  Beaconsfield  (1886),  ii.  39-40, 
quoting  from  Mr.  Freeman's  letter,  '  No  Politics  ',  in  the  Daily  News, 
September  28,  1876. 

2224  B  2 


2  Diplomacy  and  the 

Question  from  1876  to  1878,  when,  like  many  others,  he  was 
charged  with  making  '  political  capital '  (as  it  was  termed)  out 
of  the  evil  deeds  of  the  Turks  and  the  sufferings  of  Christians. 
In  a  speech  he  made  in  1876  he  blamed  both  Palmerston  and 
Russell ;  and  no  Liberal,  he  said,  objected  to  his  censure. 
But,  the  moment  he  began  to  blame  Lord  Derby,  a  Tory 
shouted,  *  No  politics  '.  Worst  of  all,  Mr.  Freeman  had  to 
submit  to  being  called  by  the  enemy  *  philanthropist  ',  whereas 
he  was  only  '  talking  politics  '  and  putting  questions  they 
could  not  answer.^ 

^  '  By  those  who  were  opposed  to  Freeman's  views  on  this  question, 
he  was  denounced  as  "  an  itinerant  demagogue  ",  "  an  agitator  ",  "  an 
hysterical  screamer  ",  "  a  philanthropic  enthusiast  '*,  "  a  sentimental, 
unpractical  politician  ",  and  the  like.  .  .  .  He  replied  to  the  charge  of  being 
a  sentimental  and  unpractical  politician  by  retorting  it  upon  his  adver- 
saries '  (see  *  Sentimental  and  Practical  Politics ',  Princeton  Review^ 
March  1879).  *  The  really  unpractical  men  were  those  who  took  no  account 
of  national  sentiment,  which  was  one  of  the  strongest  factors  in  national 
life.  In  the  wise  words  of  Guizot,  "  the  instinct  of  nations  sees  further 
than  the  negotiations  of  diplomatists  ".  .  .  .  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this, 
as  in  all  other  political  controversies,  Freeman  brought  every  question  to 
the  touchstone  of  morals.  He  did  not  ask  in  the  first  instance  whether  any 
proposed  course  of  action  was  likely  to  promote  British  interests  and  power, 
but  whether  it  was  honourable,  straightforward,  and  just.' — Stephens, 
Life  and  Letters  oj  Edward  A.  Freeman  (i  895),  ii.  1 1 9-1 20,  1 2 1 .  On  Decem- 
ber 9,  1876,  Freeman  spoke  with  Gladstone  and  others  at  St.  James's  Hall, 
London,  in  protest  against  Turkish  oppression  and  against  Britain  inter- 
fering with  the  work  of  emancipation,  whether  that  of  Russia  or  of  any 
other  Power.  Dealing  with  the  argument  that  the  interests  of  this  country, 
and  in  particular  her  dominion  in  India,  would  be  imperilled,  if  a  Russian 
ship  of  war  should  enter  the  Mediterranean,  he  said,  '  Well,  if  it  be  so, 
let  duty  come  first  and  interest  second,  and  perish  the  interests  of  England, 
perish  our  dominion  in  India,  rather  than  that  we  should  strike  one  blow 
or  speak  one  word  on  behalf  of  the  wrong  against  the  right.'  Freeman 
was  at  pains  to  refute  the  assertion  that  he  had  said  '  Perish  India  '.  See 
Stephens,  op.  cit.,  ii.  113,  and  Thompson,  op.  cit.,  i.  361,  note,  ii.  129-36, 
especially  133,  135. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  3 

It  was  about  the  same  time  that  another  historian — ^Professor 
Seeley — ^who  held,  Hke  Mr.  Freeman,  that  history  is  the 
training-ground  for  both  citizenship  and  statesmanship,  was 
addressing  a  working-men's  club  in  London  ;  and  in  the 
discussion  that  followed  his  lecture  a  remark  was  made  which 
he  often  recalled,  especially  when  he  tried  to  measure  the 
competence  of  the  great  mass  of  men  for  judging  of  large 
national  issues.  '  I  don't  know  how  you  feel,'  said  a  working- 
man,  turning  to  the  gathering  of  working-men,  '  and  I  don't 
know  how  it  is,  but  whenever  I  hear  the  Russians  mentioned, 
I  feel  the  blood  tingling  all  over  me.'  The  lecturer  was  alarmed 
at  this  way  of  handling  the  question  before  the  meeting. 
Many,  however,  in  the  audience  seemed  to  be  surprised  at 
the  impression  which  was  made  upon  him  by  the  assumption 
of  this  speaker,  that  a  mere  instinctive  feeling  might  quite 
fairly  be  taken  as  a  guide  to  the  proper  steps  for  determining 
policy  towards  an  important  issue  in  international  affairs.^ 
Seeley's  lecture  was  given  about  ten  years  after  Robert  Lowe 
had  uttered  his  deduction  from  the  passing  of  the  Second 
Reform  Bill — ^that  now  we  '  must  educate  our  masters  '. 
Sir  Mountstuart  Grant  Duff  ^  very  dutifully  and  trustingly 

^  Seeley,  Macmillan's  Magazine,  September  1880. 

2  As  Member  of  Parliament  for  the  Elgin  Burghs,  1857-81.  In  i860 
he  gave  the  first  in  a  long  succession  of  annual  speeches  to  his  constituents, 
intended  to  survey  the  field  of  current  politics,  and  especially  that  of 
international  affairs.  See  his  Elgin  Speeches  (1871).  Everything  may  be 
left  in  part  to  the  hazards  of  the  unforeseen — everything  except  the  fate 
of  nations.  That,  in  the  language  of  Emilio  Castelar  (Grant  Duff,  Miscel- 
lanies, Political  and  Literary  (1878),  214-87),  may  be  taken  as  the  foundation 
and  motive  of  the  effort  of  the  Member  for  the  Elgin  Burghs.  '  I  think 
there  is  no  man  in  Scotland  who  has  tried  more  carefully  to  keep  his 
constituents  acquainted  with  what  he  thought  upon  all  great  matters,  by 
submitting  his  thoughts  to  them  at  these  annual  gatherings.' — Miscellanies, 
314.  He  deplored  the  evil,  that  'few  English  politicians  find  it  worth 
their  while  to  make  a  specialty  of    the  study  of  foreign  questions.'—- 

B   3 


4  Diplomacy  and  the 

experimented  with  that  task.  And  certainly  it  is  wiser  to  prevent 
somnambuUsm  in  poHtics  by  salutary  ministration  than  to  try 
to  cure  it  by  sudden  shock.  But  we  shall  cure  where  we  have 
not  been  able  to  prevent,  only  if  we  resolutely  face  the  facts. 
The  most  sternly  effective  encounter  for  the  somnambulist  of 
the  day-time  in  politics — and  he  is  ever  with  us — ^would,  we 
may  be  sure,  be  a  meeting  with  MachiaveUi.  But  we  are 
anticipating. 

The  chief  and  never-ending  task  of  the  political  historian 
is  the  study  and  estimate  of  policy  and  of  the  instruments  for 
the  conduct  of  policy — the  study  and  estimate  of  statesman- 
ship. By  *  policy  '  we  mean  a  reasoned  line  of  action  taken  in 
relation  to  conditions  as  present,  and  as  seen  and  understood, 
v\dth  a  view  to  improving  them.  It  is  the  application  of 
mind  and  means  to  conditions  for  an  object,  immediate  or 
distant,  or  both.  Both  the  immediate  means  and  the  imme- 
diate object  may  at  times  seem  to  conflict  with  a  larger  and 
ultimate  object,  and  yet  be  sound  and  necessary  :  we  do  not 
appraise  by  the  same  standard  the  Tudor  body  poUtic  and 
modern  parliamentarianism.  We  must  never  separate  the 
study  of  policy — ^whether  it  be  the  statesman's  study  of  policy 
in  prospect,  or  the  historian's  in  retrospect — ^from  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  instruments  on  the  understanding  and  the  use 

'Foreign  Policy'  in  Practical  Politics  (1881),  81.  'Much  of  the  good, 
however,  that  might  result  from  the  increased  knowledge  of  statesmen  about 
foreign  affairs  will  be  lost,  if  they  do  not  take  more  pains  to  spread  their 
own  knowledge  and  ideas  amongst  their  countrymen.  If  they  do  not  do  so, 
their  hands  may  be  forced  at  any  moment,  and  they  may  be  driven  into 
courses  which  will  be  equally  disagreeable  to  sane  Liberals  and  sane 
Conservatives,  by  some  sudden  enthusiasm,  which  would  never  have  taken 
hold  on  the  popular  mind  if  men  in  the  front  rank  of  politics  had  been 
wise  in  time,  and  had  kept  their  countrymen  a  little  more  au  courant  of 
their  thoughts.' — Ibid.  87.  Further,  '  in  dealing  with  a  democracy  you 
must  not  only  be  right,  but  seem  right.' — Ibid.  79. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  5 

of  which  success  depends  ;  and  we  must  test  the  character  of 
the  instruments  by  the  work  they  have  to  do.  A  constitution, 
and  the  whole  equipment,  personal  and  impersonal,  of  govern- 
ment, must  be  judged  not  in  themselves  alone — ^for  in  them- 
selves they  have  no  meaning — but  according  to  the  people 
whose  constitution  and  equipment  they  are,  and  according  to 
the  problems  in  politics  that  have  to  be  grappled  with  at  the 
time,  and  by  the  measure  of  suitability  of  the  constitution  and 
its  organs  for  dealing  with  these  problems  successfully.  We 
can  never  evade  circumstance — ^that  unspiritual  god — in 
politics.  Intellectually  possible,  no  doubt,  it  is,  and  an  exercise 
of  high  intellect  it  can  become,  to  study  politics,  if  politics  it 
then  be,  apart  from  conditions  in  fact  and  circumstance  : 
possible  it  is  to  construct  a  scheme  of  politics,  or  a  system  of 
thought  on  polity,  that  shall  not  be  shaped  and  determined 
by  reahties  and  by  what  is  practicable — ^to  write  at  large  of 
'  the  '  State  without  ever  having  clearly  observed  a  State,  and 
compared  one  State  at  work  with  others,  both  in  their  methods 
and  in  their  achievements.  There  is  a  philosophy  of  politics 
that  starts  from  an  inspiration  or  an  assu  aption,  builds  on 
principles,  and  leads  up,  it  hopes,  to  Truth.  Students  of 
history  and  observers  of  poHtics,  in  their  mundane  view,  do 
not  aspire  to  that  freedom  of  movement,  nor,  it  may  be,  to 
the  glory  of  the  non-terrestrial  vision,  even  while  they  do  not 
interpret  the  real  in  history  as  the  merely  material,  even  while 
they  allow  for  psychological  and  ethical  factors  in  the  life  and 
politics  of  a  people,  and  are  not  unmindful  of  the  City  of  God 
of  St.  Augustine  and  of  the  De  Monarchia  of  Dante,  nor  are 
scornful  of  the  Utopias  of  pohtics.  The  politics  with  which 
they  have  to  do  start  from  conditions  in  time  and  place,  with 
the  tyranny,  it  may  be,  of  circumstance,  build  on  policy,  and 
lead,  it  is  hoped,  to  success.  That  success  may  approximate  to 
intellectual   certitude   and   philosophic   truth   where   a    wise 


6  Diplomacy  and  the 

policy  has  touched  with  tolerance  and  skill  problems  of  the 
mind  and  conscience — ^the  sphere  of  liberty  for  mind  and 
conscience.  But  more  often  the  success  of  policy  is  seen 
merely  in  an  improvement  of  the  material  conditions  of  life, 
in  greater  and  better-distributed  wealth,  in  a  higher  social 
well-being,  and  in  the  welding  of  the  parts  of  a  society  into 
something  like  a  harmonious  community — ^the  integrity  of 
the  body  politic.  Twice  happy  the  statesman  who  not  only, 
has  a  high  conception  of  end  in  his  politics,  but  can  point  to 
great  practical  achievement  in  striving  to  attain  the  goal ; 
and  thrice  happy  that  statesman  who,  in  thus  achieving,  has 
not  made  any  unworthy  sacrifice  of  right  in  the  means  he  has 
taken  for  the  ends  he  has  had  before  him. 

The  relation  of  means  to  end  is  a  consideration  paramount 
in  the  study  of  history  and  politics.  In  the  study  of  history 
we  must  always  be  dispassionate,  and  in  estimate  severely 
just.  The  Muse  is  false  to  her  calling  if  she  becomes  generous. 
To  be  just  in  estimate  is  what  we  are  all  concerned  with  in 
study  and  writing  and  teaching :  not  otherwise  can  lessons 
be  drawn  from  the  past  for  the  present.  But  we  should  be 
unjust — generous  or  too  severe — if  we  did  not  know  the  con- 
ditions— the  situation,  we  do  well  to  call  it — with  which 
policy,  or  the  men  of  action,  had  to  deal ;  and  if,  knowing  the 
situation,  we  did  not  allow  for  it  equitably  in  the  estimate 
that  we  form.  We  must  not  equate  principles  or  ideal  and 
conditions  or  fact.*    Therefore,  we  cannot  accept  the  stand- 

'  '  It  is  not  by  attending  to  the  dry,  strict,  abstract  principles  of  a  point, 
that  a  just  conclusion  is  to  be  arrived  at  in  political  subjects.  They  are  not 
to  be  determined  by  mathematical  accuracy.  Wisdom  is  to  be  gained  in 
politics,  not  by  any  one  rigid  principle,  but  by  examining  a  number  of 
incidents  ;  by  looking  attentively  at  causes,  and  reflecting  on  the  effects 
they  have  produced  ;  by  comparing  a  number  of  events  together,  and  by 
taking,  as  it  were,  an  average  of  human  affairs.' — Pitt,  April  7,  1794, 
Speeches  (1806),  ii.  190. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  7 

point  of  that  school  of  history,  or  of  moral  philosophers  busying 
themselves  with  the  records  and  deeds  and  men  of  the  past — 
a  school  of  which  Lord  Acton  was  a  conspicuous  example  in 
our  own  generation — that  would  lay  down  an  absolute  and 
binding  canon  in  the  sphere  of  right  and  wrong,  and  require 
that  no  plea  of  over-mastering  and  tyrannous  conditions  can 
condone  deviation  from  the  moral  law  in  the  use  of  means  by 
the  politician  for  the  gaining  of  an  end  desirable  in  the  interest 
of  the  State — the  living  and  developing  body  politic.  Such  a 
rule  would,  assuredly,  be  a  very  simple  and  very  clear  rule 
to  apply.  We  need  not  go,  in  its  stead,  to  the  opposite  extreme. 
We  need  not  say  that  everything  is  relative  :  that  that  is  the 
only  doctrine  and  rule  that  is  absolute.  But  the  simple,  clear, 
rigid  rule  of  moral  estimate  is  one  which  even  those  who  almost 
make  of  politics  a '  religion  may  righteously  refuse  to  accept. 
Its  enforcement  would  result  in  the  doing  of  gross  injustice 
to  the  men  whose  part  it  has  been  sternly  to  achieve  by  grasping 
that  '  stumbling  guidance  along  the  path  of  reliance  and 
action  which  is  the  path  of  life ',  and  not  merely  to  think 
and  hope  and  have  visions.  But,  inasmuch  as  we  repudiate 
the  absolute  canon  of  the  moralist  in  historical  estimate,  for 
judgement  that  shall  be  just,  we  have  the  more  need  to  be 
scrupulous  in  our  search  for  historical  conditions,  in  the 
measure  of  allowance  we  make  for  them,  in  our  scrutiny  both 
of  the  end  that  is  sought  and  of  the  means  that  are  used. 

These  considerations  bear  with  especial  force  upon  questions 
of  foreign  and  international  policy,  owing  to  the  complexity 
of  the  conditions  that  are  essentially  involved.  An  ambassador 
— ^we  have  all  heard  from  Sir  Henry  Wotton  and  his  inter- 
preter, Izaak  Walton — is  '  an  honest  man  who  is  sent  to  lie 
abroad  for  the  good  of  his  country  '.^   Well :    much  depends 

^  The  '  hinge  upon  which  the  conceit  was  to  turn  '  is  found  in  the  use 
of  the  word  *  lieger '  or  '  lieger  ambassador ',  one  who  was  appointed  to 


8  Diplomacy  and  the 

upon  conditions,  and  upon  one's  country — ^upon  the  'salutary 
prejudice  '  called  one's  country  (it  is  of  good  omen,  with 

remain  or  '  lie '  at  a  foreign  court,  a  resident  ambassador,  as  distinct  from  the 
temporary  ambassador  who  was  sent  on  a  special  and  limited  mission,  the 
latter  only  being  at  first  and  for  a  long  time  permitted.  Wotton's  '  pleasant 
definition  ' — a  '  merriment '  he  termed  it  to  James  I  in  self-defence — was 
given  in  Latin,  and  in  Latin  that  does  not  furnish  the  hinge  of  the  conceit. 
Walton  ('The  Life  of  Sir  Henry  Wotton ',  in  his  Lives,  ed.  1825,  122-4) 
gives  the  following  account :  '  At  his  first  going  Ambassador  into  Italy, 
as  he  passed  through  Germany,  he  stayed  some  days  at  Augusta  [Augs- 
burg] ;  where,  having  been  in  his  former  travels  well  known  by  many  of 
the  best  note  for  learning  and  ingeniousness, — those  that  are  esteemed  the 
virtuosi  of  that  nation, — with  whom  he  passing  an  evening  in  merriments, 
was  requested  by  Christopher  Flecamore  to  write  some  sentence  in  his 
Albo  ; — a  book  of  white  paper,  which  for  that  purpose  many  of  the  German 
gentry  usually  carry  about  them  :  and  Sir  Henry  Wotton  consenting  to 
the  motion,  took  an  occasion,  from  some  accidental  discourse  of  the  present 
company,  to  write  a  pleasant  definition  of  an  Ambassador  in  these  very 
words  : 

"  Legatus  est  vir  bonus,  peregre  missus  ad  mentiendiun  Reipublicae 
causa  " 

which  Sir  Henry  Wotton  could  have  been  content  should  have  been  thus 
Englished  : 

"  An  ambassador  is  an  honest  man,  sent  to  lie  abroad  for  the  good  of 
his  country  ". 

But  the  word  for  lie — being  the  hinge  upon  which  the  conceit  was  to  turn 
— was  not  80  expressed  in  Latin,  as  would  admit — in  the  hands  of  an  enemy 
especially — so  fair  a  construction  as  Sir  Henry  thought  In  English.'  Later 
In  the  'Life'  {ibid.  138-9),  Walton  writes  that  'a  friend  of  Sir  Henry 
Wotton's  being  designed  for  the  employment  of  an  Ambassador,  came  to 
Eton  *  (of  which  Wotton  was  Provost)  *  and  requested  from  him  some 
experimental  rules  for  his  prudent  and  safe  carriage  In  his  negociatlons : 
to  whom  he  smilingly  gave  this  for  an  infallible  aphorism  :  That  to  be  In 
safety  himself,  and  serviceable  to  his  country,  he  should  always,  and  upon 
all  occasions,  speak  the  truth, — it  seems  a  State  paradox — for,  says  Sir 
Henry  Wotton,  you  shall  never  be  believed  ;  and  by  this  means  your 
truth  will  secure  yourself,  if  you  shall  ever  be  called  to  any  account ;   and 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  9 

Priam,  to  fight  for  her),  upon  what  she  has  been,  and  is,  and 
stands  for,  and  has  to  stand  against.  '  Remember  in  all  that 
you  do  that  you  are  in  an  enemy  country  ',  a  recent  German 
Ambassador  is  said  to  have  remarked  in  words  of  advice  to 
a  junior  who  was  proceeding  to  London  :  it  would  not  be 
necessary  to  add,  '  But  so  conduct  yourself  as  though  you  are 
a  friend  '.  Assuredly  we  may  all  agree  that  no  representative 
of  his  country  abroad  should  drink  of  the  potion  described  in 
poetic  fiction  that  made  men  forget  their  country ;  and,  so, 
it  is  a  wise  recommendation  that  members  of  the  diplomatic 
service  should  fortify  themselves  against  such  insinuating 
influence  by  periodic  visits  to  the  land  they  represent.^ 

It  will  also  put  your  adversaries — who  will  still  hunt  counter — to  a  loss  in 
all  their  disquisitions  and  undertakings.* 

^  See  the  very  Instructive  and  valuable  Report  from  the  Select  Committee 
on  Diplomatic  Service  (with  Proceedings,  Minutes  of  Evidence),  1861  : 
197  (Sir  G.  H.  Seymour :  '  A  man  should  not  be  left  in  a  foreign 
country  long  enough  to  become  a  German  or  a  Spaniard,  but  .  .  .  should 
fortify  himself  every  now  and  then  by  coming  to  England ') ;  458 
(Sir  T.  Wyse,  writing  from  Athens  to  Lord  John  Russell :  '  British  ministers 
abroad  should  be  encouraged  from  time  to  time  to  return  to  their  own 
country  with  the  view  of  keeping  up  to  the  level  of  political  knowledge 
of  which  England  Is  the  centre,  and  bracing  themselves  anew,  In  the 
atmosphere  of  our  free  Institutions  and  existence,  to  that  English  spirit 
and  bearing  which  Is  the  best  guarantee  for  legitimate  success  with  other 
nations,  and  which  I  trust  will  always  be  the  distlncrion  of  English  diplo- 
macy In  every  part  of  the  world.'  Similarly,  Grant  Duff,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Committee  which  reported  In  1861,  writing  on  '  Foreign  Policy '  in 
Practical  Politics  (1881),  85-6  :  '  Diplomatists  should  not  be  quite  so  much 
"up  In  a  balloon"  as  they  often  are  ...  It  Is  a  real  misfortune  that  they 
are  not  oftener  enabled  ...  to  come  Into  contact  with  our  home  political 
life.  They  greatly  need  se  retremper  from  time  to  time  In  Its  boisterous  but 
health-bestowing  currents  ;  there  should  be,  if  possible,  more  frequent 
exchanges  from  parliamentary  to  diplomatic,  and  from  diplomatic  to  par- 
liamentary activity.  That  a  man  should  be  at  once  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Commons  and  a  representative  of  his  Sovereign  abroad,  as  was  the  case. 


10  Diplomacy  and  the 

There  is  much  in  the  point  of  view  in  estimates  of  the 
diplomatic  service.  Some  there  have  been,  and  there  may  still 
be  some,  who  think  of  the  head  of  a  legation  as  the  giver  of 
very  good  dinners ;  and  in  the  evidence  forthcoming  before 
the  Select  Committee,  appointed  by  the  House  of  Commons, 
in  1861,  to  inquire  into  the  constitution  and  efficiency  of  the 
diplomatic  service  of  this  country,  it  was  declared  that  the 
giving  of  good  dinners  is  a  quite  necessary  and  very  valuable 
part  of  the  function  of  a  diplomatist  :  '  a  good  dinner  goes 
a  great  way  in  diplomacy  '  ^  was  the  celebrated  opinion  twice  ^ 
sworn  to  by  Sir  Hamilton  Seymour,  who  had  over  forty  years' 
experience  of  diplomacy.  The  Head  of  the  Foreign  Office, 
again,  may  sometimes  think  of  a  diplomatist  as  one  who  is 
specially  sohcitous  for  his  health.  '  You  will  be  struck ',  said 
Palmerston  to  a  successor  at  the  Foreign  Office,  in  1852, 
*  with  a  very  curious  circumstance,  that  no  climate  agrees  with 
an  English  diplomatist  excepting  that  of  Paris,  Florence,  or 
Naples  '.'  The  schoolmaster,  yet  again,  looking  to  the  interest 
of  his  pupil  as  a  hopeful  attache  would  emphasize  the  impor- 
tance of  handwriting — '  a  good  bold  hand  with  distinctly 
formed  letters  ',*  and  of  having  a  command  of  excellent 
French :  in  recent  years  German  was  added  as  a  second 
obligatory   language   for   candidates   in   this   country.     The 

for  example,  with  Philip  Stanhope,  was  no  doubt  an  anomaly,  but  it  was 
an  anomaly  which  had  its  advantages.'    (See  Chesterfield's  Letters.) 

^  Report,  supra,  207.  Cf.,  on  fetes  and  entertainments,  123,  128,  166 
(They  '  promote  the  eflBdency  of  his  political  relations ' — Stratford  ie 
Redcliffe),  232  ('  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  more  a  man  entertains 
the  better  his  position  becomes  ' — Lord  Cowley). 

*  In  1850  as  well  as  in  1861. 

'  Malmcsbury,  Memoirs  of  an  Ex-Minister,  under  date  March  11,  1852. 

*  '  Regulations  for  the  Examination  of  Unpaid  Attaches,  before  the 
Civil  Service  Commissioners,  as  approved  by  Lord  J.  Russell,  August 
1859.' — Report,  supra,  477. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  ii 

schoolmaster  would  have  the  support  of  Sovereigns  and 
Ambassadors. 

The  '  Foreign  Office  hand  '  in  England  was  a  legacy  of 
Canning  and  Palmerston.  Canning  laid  down  the  rule  that 
not  more  than  ten  lines  should  be  put  into  one  page  of  foolscap. 
Palmerston  advised  Lord  Malmesbury,  when  he  assumed  the 
charge  of  the  Foreign  Office,  to  insist  on  all  official  correspon- 
dence being  written  in  a  plain  hand  and  with  proper  intervals 
between  the  lines ;  and  he  named  some  Ministers  '  whose 
writing  was  quite  illegible  '.^ 

Neither  French  nor  any  other  language  now  holds  the  place 
of  privilege  from  which  French  had  supplanted  Latin  before 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  as  the  usual,  though 
not  universal,  language  of  treaties  and  of  diplomatic  instru- 
ments for  European  States.^  But  a  ready  command  of  French, 
to  be  spoken  with  that  'easy  elegance '  which  a  polite  ambassador 
ascribed  to  the  speech  of  our  Queen- Elizabeth  in  Latin,^  has 

^  Memoirs,  as  above :  *  On  a  very  badly  written  despatch  he  [Palmerston] 
wrote  :  "  Tell  Mr.  W.,  In  a  '  Separate  ',  that  the  person  who  copies  out  his 
despatches  should  form  his  letters  by  connecting  his  slanting  down  strokes 
by  visible  lines  at  top  or  bottom  according  to  the  letters  which  he  intends 
his  parallel  lines  to  represent. — P.  18/4/51."  On  another  badly  written 
despatch  from  one  of  H.  M.'s  consuls  he  wrote  :  "A  Despatch  must  contain 
much  valuable  matter  to  reward  one  for  deciphering  such  handwriting  as 
this — which  can  only  be  compared  to  Iron  Railings  leaning  out  of  the  per- 
pendicular. P.23/12/57."  Of  another  despatch  he  wrote:  "  Reading  Mr.  R.'s 
handwriting  is  like  running  Penknives  into  one's  Eyes.  P.  21/4/64."' — 
Sir  Edward  Hertslet,  Recollections  of  the  Old  Foreign  Office  (1901),  78-9. 

^  See  Satow,  Diplomatic  Practice  (2  vols.  1917),  i.  58-61,  and  Martens, 
Guide  diplomatique,  i.  251-4,  ed.  1838  ;  ii.  6-9,  ed.  185 1. 

^  Of  Elizabeth's  speech  to  an  Ambassador  from  Sigismund  III,  King  of 
Poland,  in  1 597,  Robert  Cecil  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  :  '  I  sweare  by  the 
living  God,  that  her  Ma*'^  made  one  of  the  best  aunswers  ex  tempore,  in 
Latin,  that  ever  I  heard,  being  much  mooved  to  be  so  challenged  in  publick. 
The  wordes  of  her  beginning  were  these  :    "  Expectavi  Legationem,  mibi 


12  Diplomacy  and  the 

long  been  and  still  is  a  desirable  part  of  the  equipment  of  both 
the  junior  and  the  senior  members  of  the  diplomatic  service. 
Hamilton  Seymour  declared  in  1861  that  '  by  far  the  most 
important  point  for  those  who  enter  the  profession,  is  that  of 
learning  French  '  :  he  agreed  that  the  society  of  ladies  was 
the  society  in  which  it  could  be  most  quickly  learnt  for  con- 
versational purposes.^  He  had  seen  men  even  in  the  higher 
spheres  of  diplomacy  placed  in  ridiculous  situations,  and 
openly  laughed  at,  as  a  consequence  of  their  want  of  famiUarity 
with  the  French  language.  '  Would  you  ',  the  Earl  of  Claren- 
don was  asked  in  1861,  *  attach  supreme  importance  to  a 
complete  famiUarity  with  the  French  language  f  ' — '  The 
greatest  importance  ;  I  consider  that  a  sine  qua  non.*  '  Does 
not  the  dignity,  and  almost  the  respectability,  of  a  foreign 
minister  a  great  deal  depend  upon  his  being  able  to  com- 
municate with  his  colleagues,  and  society,  in  the  French 
language,  and  in  a  manner  that  should  not  excite  either  remark 
or  ridicule  ?  ' — ^  Clearly  so  ;  but  I  also  think  that  he  should 
speak  the  language  of  the  Court  to  which  he  is  accredited.'  ^ 

vero  Querelam  adduxisii."  ' — Ellis,  Original  Letters  (1824),  iii.  44.  '  It  was 
upon  this  occasion,  to  use  the  words  of  Speed,  that  the  Queen,  lion-like 
rising,  daunted  the  malapert  Orator  ' — rather  a  Herald  than  an  Ambassa- 
dor, she  described  him  in  her  speech — '  no  less  with  her  stately  port  and 
majestical  departure,  than  with  the  tartness  of  her  princely  checks  : 
and  turning  to  the  Traine  of  her  Attendants,  thus  said  :  "  God's  death,  my 
Lords  "  (for  that  was  her  oath  ever  in  anger)  *'  I  have  been  enforced  this 
day  to  scoure  up  my  old  Latin  that  hath  lain  long  in  rusting."  ' — Ibid.m./^i, 

^  Report.  201,  205  ;  cf.  212,  238.  The  Regulations  of  1859  required  that 
all  candidates  for  promotion  from  unpaid  to  paid  attacheships  should  be 
able  to  speak  and  write  the  languages  of  the  several  countries  in  which 
they  had  resided  since  their  first  appointment  as  unpaid  attaches.  Candi- 
dates who  had  resided  only  in  France  or  the  United  States  were  required 
to  show  proficiency  in  one  other  language  besides  French. 

'  Report,  103.  In  Germany  the  substitution  of  German  for  French,  in 
the  conduct  of  her  diplomacy,  was  begun  under  Bismarck's  predecessor, 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  13 

According  to  the  scheme  of  examination  for  unpaid  attache- 
ships,  instituted  in  December  1855  when  Lord  Clarendon  was 
at  the  head  of  the  Foreign  Office  and  approved  by  Lord  John 
Russell  in  1859,  but  no  longer  in  force,  History  was  of  the 
kind,  candidates  themselves  said,  that  they  could  '  get  up  '  in 
three  months,  and  get  rid  of  in  a  week.^  And  no  wonder  : 
'  for  the  convenience  of  candidates '  it  had  been  settled  that, 
'as  regards  modern  history  generally  ',they  were  to  be  examined 
in  'so  much  of  Heeren's  Historical  Manual  of  the  Political 
System  of  Europe  and  its  Colonies  ^  as  treats  of  history  since 
1789',  and  in  the  fourth  volume  of  Russell's  Modern  Europe; 
and,  as  regards  any  particular  country  to  which  they  might 

Bcrnstorff,  who  retired,  at  a  ministerial  crisis,  from  the  office  of  Foreign 
Minister  of  Prussia  in  October  1862.  Before  that  time  most  of  the  secre- 
taries in  the  Foreign  Office  had  belonged  to  the  French  colony  ;  the  register 
of  dispatches  was  kept  in  French  ;  the  Ambassadors  usually  reported  in 
French.  Bismarck  extended  the  use  of  German,  making  its  use  the  rule, 
in  the  diplomatic  correspondence  of  Germany.  He  claimed  even  to  have 
*  introduced  '  German — '  only,  however,  with  Cabinets  whose  language 
is  understood  in  our  own  Foreign  Office.  England,  Italy,  also  Spain — 
even  Spanish  can  be  read  in  case  of  need.  Not  with  Russia,  as  I  am  the 
only  one'  Qanuary  17,  1871)  'in  the  Foreign  Office  who  understands 
Russian.  Also  not  with  Holland,  Denmark,  and  Sweden — people  do  not 
learn  those  languages  as  a  rule.  They  write  In  French  and  we  reply  in  the 
same  language.' — Busch,  Bismarck  (1898),  I.  213,  477.  It  was  one  of 
Bismarck's  foibles  to  distrust  an  Englishman  who  speaks  French  with  a 
correct  accent.  That  advice  had  been  given  to  him,  and  he  had  generally 
found  It  true.  But,  he  added,  '  I  must  make  an  exception  in  favour  of 
Odo  Russell '. — Ibid.  i.  420. 

^  *  I  have  heard  those  who  have  been  crammed  use  this  expression  : 
That  they  were  three  months  learning  history,  and  a  week  in  forgetting  it 
again.'- — Lord  Malmesbury,  Report,  1 84. 

^  A  translation  of  Heeren's  work  from  the  fifth  German  edition  (1830) 
had  been  made  In  1834  (Oxford  :  Talboys).  The  work  was  first  published 
in  1809.  It  was  translated  into  several  languages.  Including  Swedish  and 
Polish,  before  appearing  in  English. 


14  Diplomacy  and  the 

be  about  to  proceed,  they  were  to  be  examined  in  '  so  much 
of  McCulloch's  Geographical  Dictionary  as  relates  to  that 
country'.  But,  at  least,  it  was  a  background  to  the  inter- 
national system  and  the  public  international  law  of  the 
candidates'  own  day.^    For  that  it  would  not  be  quite  useless. 


The  indispensable  qualities  for  a  diplomatist,  according  to 
French  official  statements  ^  of  the  eighteenth  century,  are 
prudence,  address,  and  dexterity  ;  alertness,  circumspection, 
sagacity.'  Our  own  favourite  words  for  the  qualities  desirable 
are  *  discretion  '  *  and  '  tact ' :  above  everything  else,  tact — 
the  gift  of  touching  and  handling  with  nice  discernment  and 

^  Candidates  for  promotion  to  paid  attacheships  were  required  to  '  draw 
up  a  report  on  the  general  commercial  and  political  relations  of  the  several 
countries  in  which  they  may  have  resided  ;  on  the  internal  polity,  and  the 
administration  and  social  institutions  of  such  countries,  and  on  the  character 
of  their  people ',  without  reference  to  '  current  political  affairs '.  Further, 
candidates  were  required  to  show  that  they  possessed  *  such  a  knowledge 
of  international  law  as  can  be  acquired  from  Wheaton's  Elements  of  Inter- 
national Law  and  Wheaton's  History  of  International  Law ' :  no  mean  require- 
ment, and  no  mean  accession  of  strength  to  the  candidates'  *  History '. 

*  e.g.  in  the  '  instruction  '  to  d'Hautefort,  ambassador  to  Vienna,  1750  : 
'  Plus  elle  [cette  commission]  est  importante  et  delicate,  plus  elle  exige  dans 
le  ministre  qui  doit  la  rcmplir,  une  naissance  distinguee,  de  la  dignite  dans 
la  representation,  de  la  sagesse  accompagnee  de  fermet6  dans  les  discours, 
enfin  beaucoup  d'activite  et  de  circonspection  dans  la  conduite.' — Recueil 
des  Instructions  donnees  aux  Ambassadeurs  et  Ministres  de  France  depuis  les 
Traites  de  Westpbalie  jusqWa  la  Revolution  Franfaise  :  Autricbe,  312. 

*  Prudence,  '  that  stale  daughter  of  Hugo  Grotius ',  hangs  fetters  upon 
the  end  of  the  goose-quill  (Sir  Robert  Keith,  Memoirs  and  Correspondence 
(1849),  i.  444)  ;  but  it  is  '  in  all  things  a  virtue,  in  politics  the  first  of  vir- 
tues '  (Burke,  Correspondence  (1844),  iii.  118). 

*  This  has  at  times  assumed  the  form  of  *  a  sort  of  dignified  torpor y  which 
seems  to  imply—"  My  slumbers  are  deep  politics,  my  lead  is  worth  other 
people's  gold."  ' — Keith,  ii.  401,  who  had  in  mind  some  Austrian  ministers. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  15 

skill.  Knowledge,  ability,  earnestness,  without  tact,  will  not 
make  a  career  in  the  diplomatic  world.  Lord  Brougham,  for 
an  example,  could  never  have  been  a  successful  diplomatist. 
It  is  told  of  him  that,  when  he  was  visiting  Stuttgart,  he  was 
taken  round  the  royal  stables  by  the  King  of  Wiirtemberg's 
Master  of  the  Horse.  The  King  was  very  proud  of  his  mag- 
nificent stud  of  Arab  horses,  which  he  had  procured  at  great 
expense  from  Syria.  The  day  was  bitterly  cold,  and  Brougham, 
who  was  lightly  clad,  and  '  with  trousers  scarcely  reaching  to 
his  ankles ',  ran  hurriedly  through  the  stables,  never  (it  is 
said)  looked  at  a  horse,  and  on  coming  out  reduced  the  Master 
of  the  Horse  to  silence  by  merely  remarking  that  '  the  money 
spent  on  the  stables  would  be  more  advantageously  spent  in 
building  a  suitable  university  for  the  education  of  the  nobility  '.^ 
Brougham,  disputatious  and  cantankerous,  would  have  borne 
himself  '  more  like  a  pedant  than  an  ambassador ',  in  Bacon's 
description  of  a  learned  ecclesiastic  who  was  a  member  of  an 
unsuccessful  mission  from  Charles  VHI  of  France  to  Henry  VH 
of  England.^ 

History,  perhaps,  does  not  reveal  to  us  any  diplomatist  who 
combines  the  manners  and  tact,  in  high  degree,  and,  in  less 
degree,  the  subtlety  of  a  John  Churchill  with  the  political  pene- 
tration, firmness  and  force  of  mind  (the  other  qualities  we  omit) 
of  a  Bismarck ;  and  the  types,  when  thus  personally  presented, 
are  almost  mutually  exclusive.  But  that  is  the  combination 
that  has  proved  desirable  for  the  eminently  successful  diplo- 

^  Lord  Augustus  Loftus,  Diplomatic  Reminiscences,  1837-77  (i892> 
1894),  I.  ch.  vli. 

^  Gagvien  (Gaguin),  '  who,  when  he  turned  his  back,  more  like  a  pedant 
than  an  ambassador,  dispersed  a  bitter  libel,  in  Latin  verse,  against  the 
King  ;  unto  which  the  King,  though  he  had  nothing  of  a  pedant,  yet  was 
content  to  cause  an  answer  to  be  made  in  like  verse  ;  and  that  as  speaking 
in  his  own  person,  but  in  a  style  of  scorn  and  sport.' — Bacon,  History  of  the 
Reign  of  King  Henry  VII,  ed.  by  Lumby,  88. 


i6  Diplomacy  and  the 

matist  in  the  conduct  of  great  affairs  between  States.  Cavour 
we  may  rank  above  Bismarck  for  success,  if  allowance  be  made 
for  a  slighter  use  of  the  expedients  that  are  deemed  question- 
able and  that  transform  la  diplomatie  into  la  polissonnerie  ;  and 
of  Cavour — whose  maxim  was  at  times,  as  that  of  others  simi- 
larly placed,  '  tout  ou  rien — ^per  fas  aut  nefas ' — ^it  was  said  by 
his  countryman,  Manzoni,  that  he  had  both  all  the  prudence 
and  all  the  imprudence  of  the  true  statesman. 

The  first  ambassadors — those  of  Biblical  and  Homeric 
times,  and  of  times  much  later — ^were  orators,  men  skilful  of 
speech  ;  and  in  those  early  days  there  were  those,  even  as 
there  are  those  to-day,  who  practise  *  open  '  diplomacy,  who 
have  the  bad  manners  actually  to  speak  to  the  people  in  their 
own  language,  instead  of  merely  to  the  King  or  his  ofhcers  and 
in  a  language  that  the  people  understand  not.  When  the 
King  of  Assyria  sent  Rabshakeh  ^  from  Lachish  to  Jerusalem, 
he  sent  with  him  a  large  army — ^an  effective  aid  to  the  conduct 
of  diplomacy,  whether  before  or  after  the  outbreak  of  hostili- 
ties, since  speech  is  not  at  all  seasons  persuasion,  nor  persuasion 
always,  of  itself,  force.  To  Rabshakeh  there  came  forth 
'  Eliakim,  Hilkiah's  son,  which  was  over  the  house,  and  Shebna, 
the  scribe,  and  Joah,  Asaph's  son,  the  recorder  '. 

*  Then  said  Eliakim  and  Shebna  and  Joah  unto  Rabshakeh, 
Speak,  I  pray  thee,  unto  thy  servants  in  the  Syrian  ^  language  ; 
for  we  understand  it  ;  and  speak  not  to  us  in  the  Jews'  language, 
in  the  ears  of  the  people  that  are  on  the  wall.  But  Rabshakeh 
.  .  .  stood  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice  in  the  Jews'  language, 
and  said.  Hear  ye  the  words  of  the  great  king,  the  king  of 
Assyria.      Thus  saith  the  king,  Let  not  Hezekiah  deceive  you  : 

*  A  designation  of  office,  not  a  proper  name.  The  Assyrian  word  is 
Rah-saq^  said  to  mean  '  chief  of  the  officers  '. — Skinner,  Isaiah  (1900), 
i.  263. 

^  The  Syrian  language  was  the  medium  of  international  communication 
in  Western  Asia. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  i^' 

for  he  shall  not  be  able  to  deliver  you.  .  .  .  But  they  held  their 
peace,  and  answered  him  not  a  word  :  for  the  king's  command- 
ment was,  saying.  Answer  him  not.' 

Wisdom  may  be  better  than  weapons  of  war,  though  one 
sinner  destroyeth  much  good.^ 

In  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  sixteenth,  in  Europe,  the 
word  '  orator  '  is  the  usual  word  for  the  envoy  to  whom  is 
entrusted  a  special  mission  to  a  foreign  Court.  An  agent 
residing  abroad  in  the  interest  of  his  king  and  country,  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  was  looked  upon  as  a  spy.     Long  after 

^  For  much  curious  and  not  inept  information  and  reasoning  regarding 
the  function  of  the  orator,  see  Le  Parjait  Ambassadeur,  traduit  de  TEspagnol 
[of  Vera  :  1621]  «j  Frangois  par  le  Sieur  Lancelot  (1642).  '  Pour  advoiier  le 
vray,  on  ne  pent  pas  estre  bon  Ambassadeur,  sans  estre  bon  Orateur, 
d'autant  que  tout  cet  office  consiste  en  la  science  de  persuader  &  dissuader, 
mais  cela  ne  se  peut  bien  pratiquer  sans  estre  doiie  d'une  grande  capacite 
d'esprit,  d'Eloquence  &  d' elegance ;  aussi  plusieurs  tiennent  que  c'est 
de  la  que  les  Latins  apellent  un  Ambassadeur,  Orateur :  car  si  un  homme 
n'a  qu'une  mediocre  capacite  d'entendement,  &  n'est  parfaittement  instruit 
en  I'Art  de  bien  parler,  comment  pourra-il  avoir  I'adresse  de  bien  faire  une 
harangue,  exposer  &  donner  a  entendre  ses  affaires,  s'estendre  sur  un  suiet 
quand  il  en  sera  besoin,  exciter  la  ioye  ou  la  tristesse  aux  coeurs  d'une 
assemblee,  selon  les  occurrences,  mettre  la  paix  &  la  concorde  entre  les 
Princes  qui  sont  divises,  ou  recommander  I'amour,  la  foy,  &  la  Religion  ? 
la  Rethorique  &  I'Art  de  bien  dire  est  necessairement  requis  en  la  personne 
d'un  Ambassadeur.' — 177-8.  '  Antipater,  Roy  des  luifs,  n'estoit  pas  bien 
content  de  ce  que  les  Atheniens  luy  envoyoient  Demosthene  pour  Ambassa- 
deur, parce  qu'il  le  reconnoissoit  si  bien  pourveu  de  prompt  &  subtil 
entendement,  de  beau  &  riche  langage,  qu'il  luy  estoit  facile  de  persuader 
tout  ce  qu'il  vouloit,  &  que  Ton  ne  luy  pouvoit  rien  refuzer  qu'avec  honte. 
II  disoit  aussi  qu'il  craignoit  d'envoyer  des  Ambassadeurs  a  Athenes,  parce 
que  Demosthenes  estoit  du  corps  de  ce  Senat.' — 179.  '  L'Eloquence  est 
une  qualite  si  propre  a  1' Ambassadeur,  que  ie  pense  que  ce  fut  pourqupy 
Dieu  connoissant  tant  de  bonnes  parties  en  Moyse  pour  le  faire  son  Ambassa- 
deur vers  Pharaon,  &  le  voulant  employer  a  son  utilite,  supplea  au  defaut 
de  sa  langue,  en  luy  donnant  pour  Collegue,  Aaron,  qui  estoit  fort  eloquent.' 
— 183.    See  also  Appendix  below,  pp.  216  sqq. 

2224  C 


i8  Diplomacy  and  the 

permanent  embassies  were  accepted  the  resident  ambassador 
did  not  divest  himself  of  that  character  ;  ^  nor  has  he  entirely 
done  so  yet.  The  part  has  become  merged  in  a  larger  function 
and  has  almost  assumed  the  dress  of  constitutional  propriety, 
but  he  is  still  the  eyes  and  the  ears  of  his  State.  There  is 
still  to-day  a  distinction  in  character  between  the  reception 
by  a  State  of  an  envoy  accredited  to  it  for  the  special  purpose 
of  negotiating  an  understanding,  and  the  recognition  of 
permanent  envoys,  representatives  of  foreign  States.  The 
reception  and  use  of  the  former  were  essential  to  the  conduct 
of  the  art  of  negotiating.  But  to  send  or  to  receive  the  latter 
is  discretionary  on  the  part  of  a  State,  although  it  has  become 
an  established  convention  for  all  full- Sovereign  States  to  send 
and  to  receive  them,  with  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of  inter- 
course among  the  members  of  the  Family  of  Nations.^    With 

The  character  was  continued  in  the  standing  general  duties  of  ambassa- 
dors, such  as  all  during  their  residence  were  required  to  discharge.  These 
are  usually  stated  at  the  conclusion  of  the  '  Instructions  '  to  the  French 
Ambassadors  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  earlier :  see  Recueil  des 
Instructions,  e.g.  t.  i.  :  Autricbe,  77,  103,  113,  123,  148,  336.  Definite 
information  was  sought  regarding  *  I'etat  des  cours  et  des  pays  dans  lesquels 
lis  auront  ete  employes,  la  qualite  et  quantite  des  troupes  qui  y  sont  entre- 
tenues,  le  bon  ou  mauvais  etat  de  leurs  finances,  sur  I'etendue  et  qualite 
de  leur  commerce,  sur  le  g^nie  et  les  inclinations  des  princes  et  de  leurs 
ministres,  tant  ceux  qui  dans  toutes  les  cours  ont  la  part  principale  k 
I'administration  des  affaires  generales,  mais  aussi  de  tous  ceux  qui,  sous 
quelque  denomination  que  ce  soit,  ont  quelque  influence  dans  les  delibera- 
tions et  resolutions  relatives  aux  int^rets  publics,  enfin  sur  tous  les  objets, 
•oit  de  simple  curiosite,  soit  d'interet  reel  pour  le  service  du  Roi  *  (anno 
1756) — op.  cit.  336.  Cf.  t.  viii :  Russie,  i.  81,  98  ('enfin  il  [M.  Baluze,  in 
1702]  doit  rendre  un  compte  exact  de  tout  ce  qui  pourra  meriter  la 
curiosite  de  Sa  Majeste  dans  un  pays  eloign^  d'elle  et  oik  jusqu'^  present 
elle  a  eu  peu  de  relations  '),  134,  467. 

*  Grotius,  whose  great  work  was  published  in  1625,  thinking,  as  his 
illustrations  show,  of  the  abuse  of  having  resident  ambassadors,  and 
ignoring  the  convenience,  was  on  the  side  of  ancient  custom  in  holding  that 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  19 

the  exception  of  the  Papacy  from  an  early  date  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  of  the  Italian  States  from  the  thirteenth  century,  of 
which  Venice  became  conspicuous  for  the  excellence  of  the 
reports  of  its  representatives,  it  was  not  till  the  fifteenth 
century  that  permanent  legations  were  established  ;  ^  and  it 
was  during  that  and  the  following  century  that  most  of  the 
European  States  instituted  a  special  department  of  government 
for  foreign  affairs.  The  first  main  function  of  the  permanent 
legation  was  to  watch  the  growth  of  that  new  portent — the 
standing  army ;  and  that  force  was  to  be  deemed  an  army 
which  was  made  up  of  enough  soldiers  to  dare  openly  to  invade 
the  dominions  of  another,  for  in  judging  of  what  numbers 
make  an  army  we  must  think  of  the  strength  of  him  against 
whom  it  is  sent  or  is  intended.^  Between  a  man  armed  and 
a  man  unarmed  no  proportion  could  hold ;  ^  and  the  saying 
of  Pope  Alexander  VI,  with  reference  to  the  invasion  of  Italy 
by  Charles  VIII  of  France,  had  become  classic — that  the 
French  entered  Italy  with  chalk  in  their  hands  to  mark  their 

they  may  be  rejected  :  '  Optimo  autem  iure  relici  possunt,  quae  nunc  in 
usu  sunt,  legationes  assiduae,  quibus  cum  non  sit  opus,  docet  mos  antiquus, 
cui  illae  ignoratae.' — De  lure  Belli  ac  Pacts,  ii.  i8,  3.  Vattel,  whose  work 
was  published  about  the  middle  of  the  following  century  (1758),  agrees 
with  Grotius  on  the  ground  of  right,  but  is  against  him  on  the  ground  of 
comity  and  convenience.  There  is  no  obligation,  he  admits,  on  the  part 
of  a  sovereign  to  accept  permanent  ministers — such  as  have  nothing  to 
negotiate ;  but  the  custom  of  keeping  resident  ministers  had  become  so 
strongly  fixed  that  to  refuse  to  conform  to  it  would  give  offence,  unless 
the  reasons  were  very  good  for  refusing. — Le  Droit  des  gens,  iv.  5,  §  66. 

^  On  the  institution  of  legations,  see  the  authorities  cited  by  Oppenheim, 
International  Law  (1905),  i.  416,  and  for  the  first  and  early  Relations 
des  ambassadeurs  venitiens  (from  1268),  and  the  connection — '  par  une  filia- 
tion directe ' — with  Byzantine  diplomacy,  see  Recueil  des  Instructions  .  .  . 
de  France:  Russie  (Rambaud),  I.  2-3,  and  authorities  cited;  also  Villari, 
Machiavelli  and  his  Times,  translated  by  Linda  Villari  (1883),  iii.  235. 

*  Grotius,  11.  16,  I.  '  Machiavelli,  //  Principe,  xlv. 

C  2 


20  Diplomacy  and  the 

lodgings,  rather  than  bearing  swords  to  fight.  It  was  only 
gradually  that  the  function  of  ambassadors  broadened  out  into 
the  conduct  of  relations,  and  the  maintenance  of  good  rela- 
tions, between  their  own  States  and  those  to  which  they  were 
accredited.  From  the  time  of  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia — 
the  treaty  basis  of  much  of  the  modern  history  of  Europe  ^ — 
that  higher  and  broader  function  could  not  be  escaped ;  and 
it  is  from  that  Treaty  that  the  institution  of  permanent 
diplomatic  representatives  became  general  in  Europe.  In 
all  the  development  of  diplomacy  from  Charles  VI IPs  invasion 
of  Italy  in  1494  to  the  close  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  thence, 
for  a  hundred  years,  to  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and 
occasionally,  at  least,  since  that  Treaty,  the  leading  influence 
has  been  exerted  by  the  consideration  of  the  balance  of  power, 
with  its  nice  avoidance  of  a  hegemony,  and  its  requirement  of 
guarantees,  in  principle  and  in  effective  force,  for  the  rights 
and  security  of  the  smaller  States.  The  process  has  been  a  long 
and  arduous  one,  tortuous  and  inconclusive.     In  shaping  its 

*  Instructions,  passim,  to  ambassadors  for  more  than  a  century  there- 
after, and  even  down  to  the  French  Revolution,  are  ample  evidence  of  its 
importance.  Wheaton  chose  the  Peace  as  '  the  epoch  from  which  to  deduce 
the  history  of  the  modern  science  of  international  law  '.  It  '  continued  to 
form  the  basis  of  the  conventional  law  of  Europe  *  until  the  French  Revo- 
lution. It  closed  the  age  of  Grotius,  and  coincided  with  the  foundation 
of  '  the  new  school  of  public  jurists,  his  disciples  and  successors  in  Holland 
and  Germany.  The  peace  completed  the  code  of  the  public  law  of  the 
empire,  which  thus  became  a  science  diligently  cultivated  in  the  German 
universities,  and  which  contributed  to  advance  the  general  science  of 
European  public  law.  It  also  marks  the  epoch  of  the  firm  establishment  of 
permanent  legations,  by  which  the  pacific  relations  of  the  European  states 
have  been  since  maintained  ;  and  which,  together  with  the  appropriation 
of  the  widely  diffused  language  of  France,  first  to  diplomatic  intercourse, 
and  subsequently  to  the  discussions  of  international  law,  contributed  to 
give  a  more  practical  character  to  the  new  science.' — History  oj  the  Law 
oj  Nations  (1845),  ^»  7'~2« 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  21 

course,  the  art  of  diplomacy,  and,  in  the  narrower,  more  precise 
and  most  exacting  sphere  of  that  art,  the  art  of  negotiating, 
must  not  be  denied  recognition  for  pertinacity  and  adroitness 
and  a  large  measure  of  good  intention. 

The  mere  fact  that  permanent  legations  were  accepted  and 
approved  was  at  once  a  consequence  and  a  proof  of  the  impor- 
tance of  the  interests  that  were  represented  by  them.  Those 
interests  grew  as  the  several  nations  grew,  and  as  their  contact 
became  more  immediate  and  more  vital  to  each.  Throughout 
all  this  development,  the  gift  of  persuasive  speech  has  con- 
tinued to  be  a  primary  quality  for  the  diplomatist.  His  func^ 
tion  is  to  carry  on  political  business,  never  against  the  interest 
of  his  own  country,  by  personal  intercourse  and  persuasive 
speech  with  foreign  statesmen  and  other  diplomatists.  Accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  Lord  Lyons — ^an  accomplished  ambas- 
sador, and,  at  a  critical  juncture  for  this  country  and  the  United 
States  of  America,  a  highly  successful  one — '  the  faculty  of 
influencing  others  by  conversation  is  the  qualification  pecu- 
liarly necessary  to  a  diplomatist '  ;  ^  and  to  this  end,  he  added, 
'  besides  higher  qualities ',  quickness  in  observing,  readiness  in 
reply,  tact  and  even  good  manners  are  of  far  greater  use  than 
much  learning. 

Broadening  our  view,  we  may  think  that  Lord  Augustus 
Loftus,  in  passing  a  eulogy  on  Lord  Clarendon  as  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  was  almost  ascribing  to  him  the  quaUties  of 
a  perfectly  equipped  representative  of  the  service  of  which 
he  was  himself  an  experienced  and  distinguished  member. 
'  Courteous  and  dignified,  with  charming  manners,  he  won  the 
regard  and  confidence  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
Firm  and  courageous,  with  consummate  judgement,  he  was 
neither  open  to  flattery  nor  to  the  influence  of  fear.  He  had 
a  remarkable  perspicacity  and  knowledge  of  human  character, 
^  Report  (1861),  442. 


22  Diplomacy  and  the 

which,  blended  with  that  chivalry  and  disinterestedness  which 
marked  his  character,  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  popular, 
as  he  was  one  of  the  most  able  statesmen  of  the  age.'  ^ 

Is  there  anything  in  all  this  to  suggest  that  diplomacy  must 
be  Machiavellian  ?  Machiavelli  himself  does  not  require  that 
it  be  so,  except  in  so  far  as  human  nature,  in  general,  and  the 
nature,  more  especially,  of  particular  men  and  particular 
circumstances,^  impel  it  to  assume  devices  that  have  vulgarly 
taken  name,  rather  than  derived  qualities,  from  one  of  the 
most  powerful  of  all  writers  and  thinkers.  What  Machiavelli 
did  was  to  insist  on  prudence  and  efficiency.  He  would  say, 
if  to  interpret  him  in  brief — ^not  from  7he  Prince  alone — ^be 
not  impossible  : 

Be  not  deceived  by  mere  appearance.  Discover  men, 
things,  and  conditions  as  they  are.  It  may  be  that  in  deriding 
sentimentalism  and  emotionalism,  in  warring  against  uncal- 
culating  benevolence,  in  the  conduct  of  public  and  inter- 
national affairs,  I  shall  seem  to  many  to  despise  sentiment 
itself  and  all  idealism — even  I  who  love  books,  and  cherish 
Dante,  and  rank  him  imperishably  with  the  immortals  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  But  the  times  are  rough  and  full  of  strange 
mutations.  Fidelity  to  bonds,  and  gratitude  for  services,  let 
no  man  count  on  who  would  face  the  facts  and  seek  security. 
Be  not  timid  of  counsel,  nor  slothful  in  execution.  Thucydides 
and  the  ancient  Romans  (especially  should  I  value  Tacitus, 
although  I  comment  on  Titus  Livius)  have  uttered  their 
warnings  and  their  rebuke  :  nor  are  men,  nor  the  heavens, 
the  sun,  the  elements  altered  from  what  of  old  they  were,  in 
their  motion,  their  ordering  and  power.  The  maxim,  *  Leave 
it  to  time ',  did  not  commend  itself  to  the  ancients.  Be  not 
too  late.  Uncontrolled  forces  there  are  ;  forces  uncontrollable 
there  may  be.     With  these  we  must  do  our  best  to  reckon. 

'  Loftus,  Diplomatic  Reminiscetices^  ii.  ch.  i. 

'  Machiavelli  would  have  commended  Montesquieu  for  his  standard  t 
'  Jc  n'ai  point  tire  mcs  principcs  de  mes  prcjuges,  mais  dc  la  nature  dcs 
choscs.' — {De  VEsprii  des  Lois  :  Preface.) 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  23 

Men  have  been  impelled  by  Necessity  to  achieve,  with  their 
hands  and  tongue,  that  excellence  whereunto  we  see  them  by 
their  labours  to  have  been  brought ;  and  it  behoves  men  to 
consider  well  the  quality  of  the  times  always,  for  often  the 
good  or  the  evil  that  befalls  is  in  no  other  wise  to  be  explained 
than  by  the  manner  of  the  encounter  of  their  proceedings 
with  the  times,  and  by  their  proceeding  conformably  to  them, 
or  not  conformably.  Fortuna  is  fickle  and  mysterious.  But, 
where  she  cannot  be  humoured,  by  weaving  her  webs,  and 
by  not  breaking  them,^  then,  like  a  jade,  she  may  by  strength 
and  decisiveness  be  mastered.  Be  not  over-scrupulous,  with 
fine  sensibility  of  conscience,  when  conditions  are  adverse, 
and  when  to  lose  time  is  to  miss  success.  Do  not  resolve  on 
the  end  until  you  are  assured  it  is  that  which  reason  and 
interest — cool  judgement — enjoin.  But,  when  you  have  so 
resolved,  command  the  means.  Not  without  cause  the  voice 
of  the  people,  in  the  things  of  their  knowledge,  is  likened  to 
the  voice  of  God  - ;  yet  the  ills  of  a  people  may  have  to  be 
cured  by  the  Prince  by  remedies  sharp  and  strong  and  seem- 
ingly cruel.  In  my  work.  The  Prince^  intended  for  a  special 
set  of  circumstances,  and  confirmed,  amplified,  and  propor- 
tioned by  my  Discourses  and  other  of  my  writings  in  many 
places — in  that,  my  little  gift  to  The  Magnificent  Lorenzo 
di  Piero  de'  Medici,  with  what  motive  fashioned  men  after 
me  may  inquire  and  not  agree — I  have  said  what  will,  I  do 
not  doubt,  be  charged  against  me  as  preaching  sin,  when  I  was 
merely  warning  my  fellow-men — '  fellow-Christians '  I  will 
not  say — against  committing  mistakes.  And  yet  all  that  I  have 
meant  to  enjoin  on  men,  and  on  my  own  countrymen  first, 
for  their  good,  is  hidden  away  in  these  words  I  wrote  to  my 
friend,  Francesco  Vettori,^   Ambassador  at    Rome  :     '  When 

^  Discorsi,  ii.  29  ;   //  Principe,  25.  ^  Discorsi,  i.  58. 

'  For  Machiavelli's  correspondence  with  Vettori,  see  Villari,  Macbiavelli, 
in.  191-216.  *  In  the  correspondence  of  GuicciardinI  and  his  other  con- 
temporaries, we  only  descry  the  writer's  real  mind  as  though  through  the 
folds  of  a  thick  veil ;  for  all  these  men  merely  described  and  analysed  that 
which  they  did,  never  that  which  they  felt.  Machiavelli  showed  a  fuller  self- 
consciousness,  a  livelier  need  of  opening  his  soul ;  therefore — rarely  as  he 
spoke  of  liimscif— his  letters  afford  us  the  first  really  clear  manifestation 


24  Diplomacy  and  the 

I  see  a  man  commit  one  capital  error,  I  have  a  right  to  assume 
he  may  commit  a  thousand ;  for  names  do  not  impose  on  me, 
and  in  such  cases  I  never  yield  except  to  the  authority  of 
reason.' 

We  may  recall  Bacon's  protest  against  those  who  object  too 
much,  consult  too  long,  adventure  too  high,  and  seldom  drive 
business  home.^  Add  to  that  the  following  from  The  Jew  of 
Malta : « 

of  the  modern  spirit.'  192.  '  Machiavelli's  real  life  was  all  in  his  intel- 
lect ;  there  lay  the  true  source  of  his  greatness.  His  predominating  mental 
gift  and  that  in  which  he  outstripped  his  contemporaries,  was  a  singular 
power  of  piercing  to  the  innermost  kernel  of  historical  and  social  facts.' — 
Ibid.  iv.  434. 

*  It  should  not  be  necessary  to  say  that  Bacon's  worldly  wisdom — for 
example,  in  the  Essays  (in  part,  even  as  Montaigne,  *  ic  suis  moy  mesme 
la  matiere  de  raon  livre '),  in  the  second  book  of  The  Advancement  of  Learn- 
ing, and  in  his  Commentarius  Solutus — is  saturated  with  the  influence  of 
Machiavclli.  '  Concerning  government,  it  is  a  part  of  knowledge  secret  and 
retired  in  both  these  respects  in  which  things  are  deemed  secret ;  for  some 
things  are  secret  because  they  are  hard  to  know,  and  some  because  they 
are  not  fit  to  utter.' — Adv.  of  L.,  u.  xxiii.  47.  'And  experience  showeth, 
there  are  few  men  so  true  to  themselves  and  so  settled,  but  that,  sometimes 
upon  heat,  sometimes  upon  bravery,  sometimes  upon  kindness,  sometimes 
upon  trouble  of  mind  and  weakness,  they  open  themselves  ;  specially  if  they 
be  put  to  it  with  a  counter-dissimulation,  according  to  the  proverb  of 
Spain,  "  Di  meniira,  y  sacaras  verdad :  Tell  a  lie  and  find  a  truth".' — 
II.  xxiii.  18. 

'  Written  between  1588  and  1592.    In  the  Prologue  Machiavclli  speaks  : 

I  count  religion  but  a  childish  toy 
And  hold  there  is  no  sin  but  ignorance.' 

Shakespeare,  in  Henry  the  Sixth,  twice,  by  anachronism,  makes  use  of  the 
conception  of  Machiavclli  current  in  his  age  :  in  Part  i.  Act  v,  sc.  4,  Tork  : 
'  AIcn(on,  that  notorious  Machiavel ' ;  in  Part  in,  Act  iii,  sc.  2,  Gloucester 
(soliloquising) : 

'  Why,  I  can  smile,  and  murder  while  I  smile, 
And  cry,  "  Content  ",  to  that  which  grieves  my  heart, 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  25 

'  Be  ruled  by  me,  for  in  extremity 
We  ought  to  make  bar  of  no  policy.'  ^ 

To  these  add  this  aphorism  from  Machiavelli's  equally  sagacious, 
and  almost  equally  learned  and  able,  countryman  and  contem- 
porary, Guicciardini — ^an  aphorism  supported  by  words  from 
Thucydides,  Polybius,  Lucan,  and  others,  and  by  citation  of 
a  lesson  from  History  :  '  The  vicissitude  of  things  and  change 
of  times,  begets  new  counsailes  and  deliberations  in  States, 
and  enforceth  necessarily  the  knitting  or  dissolving  of  Alliance 
between  them.  What  is  useful!  to  day,  may  be  hurtfuU  to 
morrow,  as  showers  that  are  seasonable  in  the  Spring,  and 
unwelcome  in  the  Harvest.  Wherefore,  to  temporise  by 
levelling  and  adapting  our  actions  to  the  occasion  present  and 
presented,  is  requisite  policy.'  ^    Gather  these  sentential  ;    or 

And  wet  my  cheeks  with  artificial  tears, 
And  frame  my  face  to  all  occasions. 

I'll  play  the  orator  as  well  as  Nestor, 

I  can  add  colours  to  the  chameleon, 
Change  shapes  with  Proteus  for  advantages, 
And  set  the  murd'rous  Machiavel  to  school.' 

'  Noe  times  have  bene  without  badd  men ',  wrote  Spenser,  in  A  View  oj 
the  Present  State  of  Ireland  (Globe  ed.  (1890),  675)5  and  its  author,  as 
became  a  representative  Elizabethan,  was  not  without  knowledge  and 
appreciation  of  the  '  rugged  brow  of  carefull  Policy  '  of  a  Christopher 
Hatton,  a  Francis  Walsingham,  the  Lord  Burleigh,  and  others.  In  places 
unexpected  and  expected  one  comes  upon  evidence  of  the  use  made  of 
Machiavelli's  name  within  the  century  following  the  publication  of  The 
Prince.  In  a  record  of  the  Star  Chamber  for  1595  a  scoundrel  and  turncoat 
is  described  as  '  a  most  palpable  Machiavellian  '  (cited  by  Cheyney,  A  His- 
tory of  England  from  the  Defeat  of  the  Armada  to  the  Death  of  Elizabeth, 
(1914),  i.  141).  1  Barabas,  Act  i.  sc.  2. 

^  Apborismes  Civill  and  Militarie  .  .  .  out  of  the  first  Quarlerne  of  Fr.  Guic- 
ciardine  (R.  Dallington),  2nd  ed.,  1629,  316-17.  See  also  Counsels  and 
Reflections  of  Francesco  Guicciardini,  translated  from  the  Italian  by 
Ninian  Hill  Thomson,  1890,  e.g.  Nos.  6,  30  (Fortuna  :   '  Whoso  well  considers 


26  Diplomacy  and  the 

even  transmute  and  dilute  them  so  that  they  become  little 
more  than  commonplaces  in  thought  in  relation  to  action  : 
and  there  is  no  need  to  make  special  and  pre-eminent  appeal 
to  Machiavelli.  Rather  should  we  venture  to  say  this,  that 
much  of  the  undoubted  '  Machiavellianism  '  in  diplomacy — 
before  as  well  as  after  Machiavelli — ^would  never  have  been 
called  for,  had  Machiavelli's  own  injunction  been  complied 
w^th  :  Examine  well  and  master  betimes  the  elements  in  the 
situation,  know  your  mind,  and  be  decisive :  it  is  only  on 
occasion  that  you  need  temporize.  Had  there  been  more  of 
Machiavellism,  there  would  have  been  less  that  is  Machiavellian. 

it  will  scarce  deny  that  in  human  affairs  Fortune  rules  supreme.  .  .  .  And 
though  discernment  and  vigilance  may  temper  many  things,  they  cannot 
do  so  unhelped,  but  stand  always  in  need  of  favourable  Fortune  ')  ;  41,  48 
('  States  cannot  be  established  or  maintained  by  conforming  to  the  moral 
law  ')  ;  76  (cf.  336),  78,  109  (freedom,  security  and  '  self-government ') ; 
140  ('  the  people  ' — '  a  beast,  mad,  mistaken,  perplexed,  without  taste, 
discernment,  or  stability  '  :  cf.  345) ;  and  147  ('  He  mistakes  who  thinks 
the  success  of  an  enterprise  to  depend  on  whether  it  be  just  or  not.  For 
every  day  we  have  proof  to  the  contrary,  and  that  it  Is  not  the  justice  of 
a  cause,  but  prudence,  strength,  and  good  fortune  that  give  the  victory. 
It  is  doubtless  true  that  in  him  who  has  right  on  his  side  there  is  often 
bred  a  firm  confidence,  founded  on  the  belief  that  God  will  favour  the 
righteous  cause,  which  makes  him  bold  and  stubborn,  and  that  from  this 
boldness  and  stubbornness  victories  do  sometimes  follow.  In  this  way  it 
may  now  and  then  indirectly  help  you  that  your  cause  is  just.  But  it  is 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  directly  any  such  effect  is  produced.'  Cf.  92  : 
'  Never  say  God  has  prospered  this  man  because  he  is  good,  or  that  another 
has  been  unprosperous  because  he  is  wicked.  For  we  often  sec  the  contrary 
happen.  Yet  are  we  not  therefore  to  pronounce  that  the  justice  of  God 
falls  short,  since  His  counsels  are  so  deep  as  rightly  to  be  spoken  of  as 
unfathomable.')  For  an  estimate  of  Guicciardini,  and  a  comparison  of 
him  with  Machiavelli,  see  Villari's  Machiavelli  and  bis  Times,  iii.  236-63. 
Regarding  Guicciardini's  Ricordi  polilici  e  civili  Villari  says,  '  It  would 
be  hard  anywhere  in  modern  literature  to  find  another  series  of  maxims 
and  sentences  revealing,  as  this  docs,  the  whole  political  and  moral  struc- 
ture, not  of  one  individual  only,  but  of  an  entire  century ',  257. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  27 

The  need  and  opportunity  for  subterfuge  and  chicanery, 
fencing  and  finessing,  are  greater  in  international  poHcy  than 
in  the  conduct  of  domestic.  The  very  function  of  a  nation's 
laws  is  to  mediate  between  interests,  and  even  to  establish 
a  concord  of  interests,  within  one  body  politic.  But  in  the 
case  of  the  international  system  we  assume  the  existence  and 
force  of  the  interests  of  the  units — ^the  several  States ;  and 
there  has  not  been  established  an  international  constitution, 
with  an  authority  that  shall  superintend,  mediate,  and  be 
sovereign.  The  formula  of  a  '  balance  of  power  '  was  often 
and  for  a  long  time  spaciously  applied,  and  can  still  be,  even 
while  it  might  be  interpreted,  in  the  official  language  of  French 
diplomacy,  according  to  one's  own  views  and  special  interests.^ 
But  it  is  a  formula  that  testifies,  in  itself,  both  to  the  deep- 
rooted  rivalry  of  interests  among  the  Powers,  and  to  the 
absence  of  a  duly-constituted  authority  for  regulating  those 
interests.  In  the  words  of  Bolingbroke,^  the  scales  of  the 
balance  could  never  be  exactly  poised.     The  Primacy  of  the 

*  '  L'equllibre  de  pouvoir  en  Europe  est  le  mot  de  ralliement  qui 
reunit  dans  un  meme  concert  de  mesures,  quoique  par  des  motifs  fort 
differents,  les  cours  de  Vienne  et  de  Londres,  les  Etats  generaux  des 
Provinces-Unies  et  la  plupart  des  princes  d'Allemagne.  Quoique  cet 
equilibre  soit,  a  dire  vrai,  une  chose  de  pure  opinion  que  chacun  interpretc 
suivant  ses  vues  et  ses  interets  particuliers,  il  a  cependant  toujours  servi 
de  pretexte  et  de  mobile  aux  ligues  qui,  depuis  pres  de  quatre-vingts  ans, 
se  sont  formees  et  renouvelees  contre  la  France.  L'Angleterre  et  la 
Hollande,  qui  se  croient  specialement  interessees  au  maintien  de  cet 
equilibre  de  pouvoir,  regardent  la  cour  de  Vienne  comme  la  seule  puissance 
qui,  aidee  de  leurs  secours,  soit  en  etat  de  contre-balancer  les  forces  de  la 
maison  de  Bourbon.' — Recueil  des  Instructions  .  .  .:  Autricbe,  310-11 
(September  14,  1750).  Cf.  330  ;  and  the  Instructions  from  1757  on  the 
effects  of  '  the  change  of  system  ' — *  the  diplomatic  revolution  ' — of  1756. 
*  En  s'unissant  etroitement  a  la  cour  de  Vienne,  on  peut  dire  que  le  Roi  a 
change  le  systeme  politique  de  I'Europc ',  356. 

*  Letters  on  History,  No.  8. 


28  Diplomacy  and  the 

Powers  and  the  European  Concert  of  the  nineteenth  century 
were,  in  like  manner,  only  secondary  and  conditional  expedients 
— the  second  best,  and  not  a  bashful  one,  in  the  accepted 
absence,  at  a  distance,  of  the  best  desirable.^  The  '  Concert 
of  Europe  '  has  often  been  naade  use  of  as  a  fiction  to  cloak 
the  mutual  jealousy  and  enmity  of  the  Powers.  If  there  was 
something  of  despair,  there  was  also  much  that  was  robustly 
British  and  healthy  in  Canning's  exclamation  in  1823  :  *  Things 
are  getting  back  to  a  wholesome  state  again.  Every  nation 
for  itself,  and  God  for  us  all ! '  It  is  possible,  as  has  been  said,^ 
to  agree  with  both  sentiments  at  the  same  time.  There  ceased 
to  be  any  European  law,  such  as  was  projected  in  the  Treaties 
of  Vienna  in  1815,  to  which  the  weaker  States  could  appeal 
in  defence  of  right  as  against  the  might  of  the  stronger.  It  was 
aptly  observed  by  Prince  Gortschakoff  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  dispute,  '  qu'il  n'y  a  plus  d'Europe  '.^ 

In  the  vigorous  era  of  diplomacy,  during  the  seventeenth 
and    the    eighteenth    century,    diplomatists,    accredited    to 

^  '  The  system  of  preserving  some  equilibrium  of  power, — of  preserving 
any  state  from  becoming  too  great  for  her  neighbours,  is  a  system  purely 
defensive,  and  directed  towards  the  object  of  universal  preservation.  It 
is  a  system  which  provides  for  the  security  of  all  states  by  balancing  the 
force  and  opposing  the  interests  of  great  ones.  The  independence  of  nations 
is  the  end,  the  balance  of  power  is  only  the  means.  To  destroy  independent 
nations,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  balance  of  power,  is  a  most  extravagant 
sacrifice  of  the  end  to  the  means.  ...  In  truth,  the  Balancing  system  is 
itself  only  a  secondary  guard  of  national  independence.  The  paramount 
principle  ...  is  national  spirit.  .  .  .  The  Congress  of  Vienna  seems,  indeed, 
to  have  adopted  every  part  of  the  French  system,  except  that  they  have 
transferred  the  dictatorship  of  Europe  from  an  individual  to  a  triumvirate.' 
— Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Speech  on  the  Annexation  of  Genoa  to  the  King- 
dom of  Sardinia,  April  27,  1815,  Miscellaneous  Works  (1851),  708-g. 

*  Bernard,  Four  Lectures  on  Diplomacy  (1868),  96. 

'  Loftus,  Diplomatic  Reminiscences^  i.  ch.  xxi. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  29 

foreign  Courts  and  capitals,  were  by  conditions  constrained 
to  be  more  politic,  procrastinating,  prevaricating  than  in  our 
own  day.  There  was  an  ample  supply  of  '  instructions ' — 
general  and  specific,  initial  and  supplementary,  royal  and 
ministerial ;  and  these  two  last  were  at  times,  and  in  a  notable 
instance,  irreconcilable.  But  time  and  space  were  then  so 
far  from  having  been  overcome  that  ambassadors  had,  in  many 
emergencies,  to  act  at  their  own  discretion,  to  temporize,  and 
make  false  or  merely  conditional  promises  :  they  had  to  wait 
until  explicit  orders  came  to  them  from  their  Government  or 
their  royal  master,  or  from  both,  thus  making  explanations 
necessary,  and,  it  might  be,  a  fresh  line  of  action,  a  new  plan 
of  campaign.^   We  have  an  impressive  illustration  in  the  history 

^  The  obstacles  imposed  by  distance  upon  the  rapid  transmission  of 
reports  and  communication  of  instructions  must  never  be  omitted  in  an 
estimate  of  diplomacy  before  the  nineteenth  century,  and  of  its  '  manoeuvres 
machiaveliques  '  (Note  du  Comte  de  Segur  pour  le  Prince  de  Nassau, 
Petersbourg,  January  31,  1789  :  Instructions:  i?MS5jV,  ii.  453).  '  L'eloigne- 
ment  de  Petersbourg  a  Versailles  etant  trop  grand  pour  qu'on  puisse 
toujours  recevoir  des  instructions  precises  au  moment  ou  il  seroit  con- 
venable  dans  certaines  circonstances,  il  faut  en  profiter  avec  sagesse,' 
Instructions:  Russie,  ii.  335  (November  21,  1777).  Cf.  i.  485:  *  Si  des 
incidents  imprevus  et  qu'il  faut  ensevelir  dans  le  silence,  si  une  conduite 
quelquefois  peu  reguliere  de  la  part  de  nos  ministres  que  I'eloignement  ne 
nous  permettoit  pas  de  guider,  ont  paru  apporter  quelque  refroidissement 
entre  les  deux  cours  .  .  . '  (December  1747).  Cf.  i.  320,  ii.  184.  The  third 
Lord  Malmesbury,  editor  of  the  Diaries  and  Correspondence  of  James 
Harris,  the  first  Earl,  has  said  (iv.  417)  :  'The  difference  of  character 
between  old  and  modern  diplomacy  fostered  his  disposition  to  assume 
responsibility,  and  seek  the  most  laborious  and  hopeless  missions  ;  for 
when  the  European  Capitals  were,  in  point  of  communication  with  England, 
at  treble  the  distance  at  which  they  now  [1844]  stand,  the  resident  Minister 
had  necessarily  far  greater  latitude  and  scope  for  action,  and  was  con- 
stantly obliged  and  expected  to  trust  to  his  own  judgment,  when  instruc- 
tions were  beyond  his  reach.'  Harris,  writing  in  July  1779  from  Petersburg 
to  Morton  Eden  at  Copenhagen,  said  :   ' .  .  .  You  will  see  the  difficult  and 


30  Diplomacy  and  the 

of  tlie  diplomacy  of  our  own  country  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Stratford  Canning,  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary at  Constantinople,  received  from  the  Foreign  Minister 
and  the  Under-Secretary  between  1810  and  1812  sixteen 
dispatches,  and  not  one  of  them  had  any  direct  and  immediate 
bearing  on  the  troublesome  and  momentous  negotiations 
which  he  was  conducting  at  the  Porte  at  the  time.* 

The  telegraph  ^  has  very  greatly  increased  the  importance 
of  the  Foreign  Office  of  the  several  States  alike  in  the  initiation, 
in  the  development  and  in  the  control  of  diplomacy.  It  has 
lessened  both  the  difficulties  and  the  independent  value  of  the 

delicate  task  I  have  to  perform,  particularly  (speaking  still  most  confi- 
dentially) as  I  am  without  a  single  instruction  jrom  bottie',  i.  (2nd  ed., 
1845)  209.  Cf.  dispatch  from  Harris  at  Petersburg  to  Viscount  Weymouth, 
Secretary  of  State  (northern  department),  September  9-20,  1779:  *  If 
on  reading  the  following  lines  it  should  appear  that  I  have  not  entirely 
met  the  ideas  of  His  Majesty  and  of  his  confidential  servants  ;  that  I  have 
given  too  great  a  latitude  to  my  full  powers,  and  not  entirely  fulfilled  the 
principal  object  of  my  mission  ;  I  must  entreat  your  Lordship  to  believe 
that  I  should  not  have  ventured  to  have  taken,  on  so  important  a  subject, 
so  much  on  myself,  if  it  had  not  seemed  to  me  that  the  exigencies  of  the 
times  required  unusual  efforts,'  i.  (2nd  ed.)  211. 

*  The  Earl  of  Malmesbury,  in  his  Memoirs  of  an  Ex-Minister,  writing, 
February  23,  1852,  of  Sir  Stratford  Canning — later,  Viscount  Stratford  de 
Redcliffe — with  reference  to  Lord  Derby  sounding  him  in  1851  about 
taking  the  Foreign  Office,  said  :  '  His  talents  are  beyond  dispute,  but  his 
temper  is  so  despotic  and  irritable,  that  he  can  only  display  them  in  a 
peculiar  kind  of  diplomacy.  He  managed  the  Turks  in  their  own  way, 
and  it  was  Sultan  versus  Sultan.'  He  was  Ambassador  at  Constantinople 
from  1825  to  1828  and  again  from  1841  to  1858,  including  one  period  of 
absence  of  two  years,  and  one  of  seven  months. 

*  '  This  age  of  rapid  communication,  of  what  I  would  call  the  telegraphic 
demoralisation  of  those  who  formerly  had  to  act  for  themselves  and  are 
now  content  to  be  at  the  end  of  the  wire.' — Sir  Horace  Rumbold  (sometime 
H.M.  Ambassador  at  Vienna),  Recollections  oj  a  Diplomatist,  z  vols.  (1902), 
i.  111-112.    See  also  ii.  242. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  31 

intermediaries,  and  by  doing  so  it  has  led  to  an  increase  of 
steadiness,  of  continuity  and  of  general  reliability  in  the 
conduct  of  foreign  affairs.  All  that  is  to  the  good.  But 
telegraphic  advice  may  also  at  times  be  obscure  and  misleading. 
We  should,  moreover,  be  going  against  the  recorded  testimony 
of  ambassadors  of  the  nineteenth  century  themselves,  if  we 
were  to  conclude  that  the  need  for  judgement  and  discretion 
— ^for  acting  on  the  spot  in  the  right  way  at  the  right  time — 
has  been  lessened  thereby,  that  there  has  been  much  lessening 
of  the  sense  of  responsibility,  or  that  the  Foreign  Office  and 
the  telegraph  can  ever  take  the  place  of  personal  intercourse 
with  the  Sovereign  abroad  and  his  representatives.^ 

With  regard  to  diplomatic  morality  and  the  factors  making 
for  success  in  diplomacy,  opinions  differ.  The  first  Earl  Grey 
professed  himself  a  great  lover  of  morality,  but '  the  intercourse 
of  nations  cannot  ',  he  said,  '  be  strictly  regulated  by  that 
rule  '.2  '  If  they  lie  to  you  ',  said  Louis  XI  to  two  of  his 
envoys,  '  you  lie  still  more  to  them  '.*  Metternich,  regarding 
whose  capacity  for  lying  Napoleon  was  in  no  doubt,  has  recorded 
in  his  Autobiographical  Memoir  that  he  had  never  been 
afraid  of  succumbing  morally.  In  an  attempt  to  propound 
in  a  few  principles  the  meaning  of  politics  and  diplomacy,  he 

^  See  Appendix,  pp.  251-3.  See  also  First  Report  from  the  Select  Com- 
mittee on  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Services:  Commons  Papers,  1871,  vii. 
197,  p.  xiv. 

*  Acton,  Introduction  to  Burd,  //  Principe,  xxvii.  '  By  plausible  and 
blameless  paths  men  are  drawn  to  the  doctrine  of  the  justice  of  History, 
of  judgment  by  results,  the  nursling  of  the  nineteenth  century,  from  which 
a  sharp  incline  leads  to  The  Prince,'  xxvi-xxvii. 

*  Cf.  the  following  from  a  letter  describing  a  stage  in  the  tortuous  nego- 
tiations that  led  to  the  Treaty  of  Troyes  :  *  Cirtes  alle  the  ambassadors, 
that  we  dele  wyth,  ben  yncongrue,  that  is  to  say,  yn  olde  maner  of  speche 
in  England,  "  they  ben  double  and  fals : "  whyth  whiche  maner  of  men 
I  prey  God  lete  neuer  no  trew  mon  be  coupled  with  '. — Ellis,  Original  Letters 
(2nd  series,  1827),  i.  "/j. 


32  Diplomacy  and  the 

characterized  the  modern  world,  in  distinction  from  the 
ancient,  by  the  tendency  of  nations  to  draw  near  to  each  other, 
and  to  enter  into  some  form  of  league  resting  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  great  Christian  society  of  men  ;  and  that  basis  is 
*  the  precept  of  the  Book  of  books,  "  Do  unto  others  as  ye 
would  they  should  do  unto  you."  '  Accordingly,  the  main 
task  of  politics  in  his  age  seemed  to  him  to  be  to  establish 
international  relations  upon  a  basis  of  genuine  reciprocity 
under  the  guarantee  of  respect  for  established  rights  and  the 
conscientious  observance  of  contracts.  Such  was  the  science 
of  politics,  according  to  one  who  was  Jfn,  faux,  and  fanfaron  ; 
and  diplomacy  was  the  art  and  daily  application  of  the  science.* 
When  Count  Buol  Schauenstein  retired  from  the  office  of 
Foreign  Minister  in  Austria,  Metternich's  strongest  recom- 
mendation of  Count  Rechberg  as  successor  consisted  in  the 
formula  that  he  was  '  a  pupil  of  his  school '.  Lord  Augustus 
Loftus  doubted  whether  the  recommendation  would  have  the 
weight  with  Lord  Palmerston  which  was  attached  to  it  by  the 
venerable  Prince. 

In  a  chapter  ^  which  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  in  tone  and 
purpose  with  the  Preface  of  his  great  work,  Grotius  admits 
a  wide  latitude  to  '  amphibologies ',  and,  although  he  disallows 
them  where  the  *  honour  of  God  ',  or  charity  toward  our 
neighbour,  or  reverence  toward  superiors,  or  the  making  of 
contracts,  or  *  the  nature  of  the  thing  itself  '  of  which  we 
treat,  requires  a  clear  unmasking  of  ourselves,  he  is  manifestly 
troubled  by  the  discord  between  word  and  deed  in  the  affairs 
of  men,  and  by  the  fact  that  mendacity  has  been  a  frequent 
instrument  and  support  of  success.^     In  a  less  awkward  and 

^  Memoirs  of  Prince  Mettemicb,  translated  by  Mrs.  Alexander  Napier, 
i.  36-8. 

*  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pads,  iii.  c.  i. 

'  Spinoza,  in  his  Tractatus  TAw/ogiVo-Po/i/ifMS,  published  in  1670 — forty- 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  33 

less  equivocal  treatment  of  this  subject,  Vattel  ^  starts  impec- 
cably from  the  position  that  good  faith  consists  not  only  in 
the  observance  of  promises,  but  also  in  not  deceiving  on  any 
occasions  that  put  us  under  any  obligation  to  speak  the  truth ; 
he  throws  over  those  writers,  '  especially  divines  ',  who  have 
made  of  truth  a  kind  of  deity,  to  which  for  its  own  sake,  and 
without  regard  to  consequences,  we  owe  an  inviolable  respect ; 
and  he  commends  and  takes  his  stand  with  those  philosophers 
of  '  more  accurate  ideas  and  more  profound  penetration  '  who 
acknowledge  that  truth,  as  the  soul  of  human  society,  is  in 
general  to  be  respected,  being  the  very  basis  of  confidence  in 
the  mutual  intercourse  of  men,  but  who  ground  the  respect 
due  to  it  on  its  effects.  The  word  '  lies ',  accordingly,  is  to  be 
given  only  to  the  words  of  him  who  speaks  contrary  to  his 

five  years  after  the  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pacts — reasons  from  experience  to  the 
conditional  nature  of  the  sanctity  of  international  compacts.  Such  con- 
tracts are  valid  as  long  as  their  basis  of  danger  or  of  advantage  holds, 
inasmuch  as  no  one  enters  into  an  engagement,  or  is  bound  to  stand  by 
his  compacts,  unless  there  be  a  hope  of  some  good  to  result,  or  the  fear  of 
some  evil :  remove  this  basis,  and  the  compact  becomes  void  ;  and  this 
has  been  abundantly  shown  by  experience  ('  .  •  •  quippe  nemo  contrahit, 
nee  pactis  stare  tenetur,  nisi  spe  alicuius  boni,  vel  sollicitudine  alicuius 
mali :  quod  fundamentum  si  tollatur  pactum  ex  sese  toUitur ;  quod  etiam 
experientia  satis  superque  docet ').  For,  although  different  States  agree 
among  themselves  not  to  do  injury  to  each  other,  they  take  all  possible 
precautions  to  prevent  such  agreements  from  being  broken  by  the  stronger 
party,  and  they  do  not  rely  upon  the  words  of  the  compact  ('  nee  fidem 
dictis  habent '),  unless  it  is  clearly  to  the  interest  of  both  parties  to  observe 
it  ('  nisi  utriusque  ad  contrahendum  finem  et  utilitatem  satis  perspectam 
habuerint').  Otherwise  they  would  fear  a  breach  of  faith ;  nor  would  there 
be  wrong  done.  For  what  man  of  sense,  who  takes  account  of  the  right  of 
sovereign  powers,  would  puj  his  trust  in  the  promises  of  him  who  has 
both  the  will  and  the  power  to  do  what  he  likes,  and  who  recognizes  no 
higher  law  than  the  safety  and  interest  of  his  dominion  ?  ('  cui  sui  imperii 
salus  et  utilitas  summa  lex  debet  esse  ')— c.  xvi. 

^  Bk.  Ill,  ch.  x. 

2224  n 


34  Diplomacy  and  the 

thoughts,  on  occasions  when  there  rests  on  him  an  obligation 
to  speak  the  truth.  The  word  '  falsiloquy  '  (Jalsiloquium)  is  to 
be  used  of  a  false  discourse  to  persons  who  have  no  right  to 
insist  on  our  telling  them  the  truth  in  a  particular  case. 

*  Mon  grand  art,  s'il  m'est  permis  de  me  citer,  est  de  paroitre 
simple  et  vrai.  Je  me  pique  de  posseder  cette  derniere 
qualit6  ;  cependant  vous  connoissez  ma  maniere  de  manceuvrer, 
vous  m'avez  suivi  pas  a  pas,  imitez-moi  done'  Thus  did  a 
French  ambassador  to  Vienna  in  171 7  instruct  the  secretary 
to  the  embassy  who  was  temporarily  left  in  charge.^  Sir  Robert 
Walpole,  a  master-worker  of  large  visible  results  by  means  of 
little  positive  action,  asked  Lord  Stanhope  to  remember  that 
'  in  England  the  manner  of  doing  things  is  often  more  to  be 
regarded  than  the  thing  is  itself  '.^  Lord  Stanhope,  the  imme- 
diate and  distinguished  precursor  of  the  still  more  brilliant 
Carteret  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  and  international 
diplomacy,  used  to  say,  according  to  Lady  Mary  Montagu,* 

^  Le  comte  du  Luc  to  M.  du  Bourg  :  Recucil  des  Instructions :  Autricbe, 
192-3.  Du  Luc  in  his  Mimoire  concernant  V Ambassade  de  Vienne  writes 
incisively  of  nunisters  near  the  Emperor :  '  Le  prince  de  Trautson  .  .  .  me 
paroit  un  bonhomme,  mais  d'un  genie  assez  borni.  Sa  femme  le  gouverne.' 
Le  comte  de  Starhemberg  :  '  Je  le  tiens  le  plus  capable  de  tous  les  ministres 
de  cette  cour  ;  mais  il  veut  s'enrichir,  quoiqu'il  ait  dej^  des  biens  immenses. 
C'est  1^  son  but  principal.'  '  Le  comte  de  Zinzendorf  est  chancelier 
d'Autriche.  ...  II  est  bonhomme  ;  il  voudroit  faire  plaisir,  mais  il  ne  finit 
rien.  J'ai  lieu  de  croire  qu'il  n'est  pas  parfaitement  instruit.  II  suit 
I'ancien  esprit  de  sa  cour.  Son  temperament  le  porte  a  eluder  toute  con- 
clusion pour  s'epargner  de  la  fatigue  et  jouir  uniquement  de  la  vie  qu'il 
aime  et  dont  il  fait  usage.  Sa  table  est  sans  contredit  la  meilleure  et  la 
plus  delicate  de  Vienne.' — Ibid.^  164,  foot-note. 

^  Robert  Walpole  to  Secretary  Stanhope,  January  1/12,  171 7,  on  the 
occasion  of  Townshend's  removal  from  ofRce.  Coxe,  Memoirs  of . , .  Walpole 
(1798),  ii.  163. 

•  Quoted  by  Lecky,  History  oj  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century ^  Cabinet 
ed.,  i.  369-70,  foot-note. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  35 

that  during  his  ministry  he  '  always  imposed  on  the  foreign 
ministers  by  telling  them  the  naked  truth '.  Thinking  it 
impossible  that  the  truth  should  come  from  the  mouth  of 
a  statesman,  '  they  never  failed  to  write  information  to  their 
respective  Courts  directly  contrary  to  the  assurances  he  gave 
them '.  Lord  Palmerston,  at  the  beginning  of  the  session  of 
1848,  found  the  formula  for  the  guidance  of  British  Ministers 
in  the  expression  of  Canning,  that  with  each  of  them  the 
*  interests  '  of  his  own  country  ought  to  be  '  the  shibboleth 
of  his  policy  '.^  In  his  intercourse  with  the  Ministers  of  other 
States  he  had  desired  a  certain  measure  of  personal  freedom, 
as  he  claimed  in  the  notable  letter  in  which  he  gave  an  account 
of  the  circumstances  of  his  dismissal  from  the  charge  of  the 
Foreign  Office  in  1851  :  in  such  intercourse  the  Foreign 
Minister  could  not  always  act  merely  as  the  organ  of  a  pre- 
viously consulted  Cabinet.^  That  the  measure  of  freedom  he 
claimed  and  exercised  had  results  of  the  kind  that  he  approved 
is  clear  from  his  declaration  to  his  biographer,  that  he  occasion- 
ally found  that  foreign  ministers  '  had  been  deceived  by  the 
open  manner  in  which  he  told  them  the  truth  '.  '  They  went 
away  convinced  that  so  skilful  and  experienced  a  diplomatist 
could  not  possibly  be  so  frank  as  he  appeared,  and,  imagining 
some  deep  design  in  his  words,  acted  on  their  own  idea  of  what 
he  really  meant,  and  so  misled  their  own  selves.'  *  '  In  politics, 
in  stormy  times ',  said  Segur,  writing  of  Louis  XV's  secret 
correspondence,  '  true  dexterity  consists  in  courageous  good 
faith  ' ;  it  is  by  character,  frankness  and  sincerity  that  durable 

^  Ashley,  Life  of  Palmerston,  i.  63. 

^  Ibid.,  i.  314.  In  a  speech  of  self-defence,  he  asked  :  '  Is  Her  Majesty's 
Minister  to  sit  like  a  dolt,  when  a  Foreign  Ambassador  converses  on  some 
great  event,  without  giving  him  any  answer  or  making  any  observation  ?  ' — 
Malmesbury,  Memoirs  of  an  Ex-Minister,  under  date  February  3,  1852. 

'  Ashley,  ii.  301. 

D  2 


36  Diplomacy  and  the 

success  is  won.^    According  to  the  first  Lord  Malmesbury — 
the  guardian  of  Palmerston,  who  in  turn  became  the  guardian 

^  '  En  politique,  dans  les  temps  d'orage,  la  bonne  foi  courageuse  est  la 
veritable  habilet6 ;  le  caract^re  touche  le  but  que  Tesprit  manque ;  la 
franchise  sauve  des  ecueils  ou  la  finesse  echoue,  et  la  sincerite  ferme  peut 
seule  donner,  ou  la  solidite  dans  les  succes,  ou  la  gloire  dans  le  malheur.' — 
Politique  de  tons  les  Cabinets  (3rd  ed.,  1802),  i.  87,  Segur's  note.  Segur's 
contributions  to  this  work  are  rich  in  lessons  for  the  understanding  of  motives 
and  ends  in  policy.  '  Un  Politique,  a  Paris,  ne  doit  se  faire  ni  Espagnol,  ni 
Anglais,  ni  Autrichien,  ni  Prussien,  ni  Russe,  ni  Turc  ;  il  doit  etre  Fran^ais, 
et  calculer  les  interets  de  son  pays  et  les  Alliances  qui  lui  conviennent, 
selon  les  temps,  la  force  respective  des  Puissances  etrangeres,  et,  surtout, 
selon  le  genie  de  ceux  qui  les  conduisent.' — Ibid.  i.  19  (cf.  iii.  368).  *  II 
est  parfaitement  inutile  de  chercher  quelles  peuvent  etre  les  causes  de  la 
haine  qui  divise  les  peuples.  A  la  honte  de  I'humanite,  toutes  les  nations 
du  globe  se  halssent  entr'elles,  d'autant  plus  qu'elles  sont  plus  voisines 
Tune  de  I'autre.  Les  Suedois  detestent  les  Danois  et  les  Russes  ;  ceux-ci 
haissent  les  Turcs  et  les  AUemands  ;  les  Allemands,  les  Fran^ais,  les 
Anglais  se  jalousent  et  se  blament  reciproquement ;  on  I'eprouve  dans 
toutes  les  coalitions  :  aussi  ce  sont  des  manages  que  suit  promptement  le 
divorce.  Un  interet  momentane  les  unit,  une  jalousie  constante  les  separe. 
Le  patriotisme  meme,  si  necessaire,  n'est  qu'un  egoisme  politique,  d'autant 
plus  indestructible,  que  I'interet  de  chaque  nation  I'erige  en  vertu.' — ii.  281. 
'  On  dedaigne  la  politique  ;  on  la  croit  inutile  ;  on  la  critique  sans  examen  ; 
on  la  confonde  avec  I'intrigue  ;  on  oublie  que  tous  les  etats  de  I'Europe 
sont  encore  loin  d'embrasser  nos  principes  ;  on  oublie  que,  tant  que  les 
princes  auront  des  passions,  la  politique  existera,  comme  la  medecine  et 
la  jurisprudence  existeront,  tant  qu'il  y  aura  des  maladies  et  des  crimes. 
II  existe  done  une  politique  necessaire.  Je  conviens  que  celle  d'une  nation 
libre  et  eclairee  ne  doit  point  ressembler  a  la  politique  insidieuse,  intrigante, 
corruptrice  des  princes  conquerans  et  des  peuples  esclaves.  La  politique 
des  Fran^ais  doit  se  borner  i  conserver  la  paix  tant  qu'ils  le  pourront  avec 
suret^,  et  h  pacifier  leurs  voisins,  pour  ne  pas  €tre  entraines  dans  leurs 
querelles.  Cette  noble  et  simple  politique,  digne  de  notre  constitution, 
rendra  les  fonctions  de  nos  ambassadeurs  plus  augustes,  plus  sacrees ; 
mais  elles  seront  encore  difficiles  ;  clles  exigeront  encore  beaucoup  de 
prudence,  d'habilete,  d'adresse.' — ii.  332.  ' .  .  .  un  code  tres-imparfait, 
nomme  droit  des  gms,  code  perpctuellement  iludi  par  I'adresse  ou  viol6 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  37 

of  the  third  Lord  Malmesbury/  to  whom  reference  has  already 
been  made — '  no  occasion,  no  provocation,  no  anxiety  to 
rebut  an  unjust  accusation,  no  idea,  however  tempting,  of 
promoting  the  object  you  have  in  view,  can  need,  much  less 
justify,  a  falsehood.  Success  obtained  by  one,  is  a  precarious 
and  baseless  success.  Detection  would  ruin,  not  only  your 
own  reputation  for  ever,  but  deeply  wound  the  honour  of 
your  Court.  If,  as  frequently  happens,  an  indiscreet  question, 
which  seems  to  require  a  distinct  answer,  is  put  to  you  abruptly 
by  an  artful  Minister,  parry  it  either  by  treating  it  as  an  indis- 
creet question,  or  get  rid  of  it  by  a  grave  and  serious  look  ; 
but  on  no  account  contradict  the  assertion  flatly  if  it  be  true, 
or  admit  it  as  true,  if  false  and  of  a  dangerous  tendency.'  * 

par  la  force,  et  qui  n'est  au  fond  qu'une  collection  de  traites  souvent  con- 
tradictoires  que  les  vainqueurs  dictent  aux  vaincus,  qui  sent  respectes 
tant  que  dure  la  lassitude  de  la  guerre,  et  que  rompt  I'ambition,  des  que 
les  circonstances  offrent  une  chance  favorable  a  son  avidite.' — iii.  373. 
'  Les  affaires  sont  conduites  par  les  hommes  ;  les  hommes  sont  plus  souvent 
egares  par  les  passions  qu'eclaires  par  la  justice.  La  politique  ne  peut 
etre  fixe,  puisque  sa  direction  varie  suivant  les  caracteres  des  hommes 
places  par  le  sort  a  la  tete  des  gouvernements.  II  faut  done  etablir  le 
systeme  federatif  sur  des  bases  morales,  et  non  sur  des  bases  geographiques.' 
iii.  377-8. 

^  Editor  of  the  Diaries  and  Correspondence  of  the  first  Earl.  In  his  own 
Memoirs  of  an  Ex-Minister,  under  date  March  1 1,  1 852,  he  alludes  to  the  staff 
of  the  Foreign  Office  being  surprised  at  his  knowing  the  routine  work  when 
he  was  appointed  Foreign  Secretary.  This  equipment  he  attributes  to  his 
preparation  of  his  grandfather's  Diaries  and  Correspondence  for  publication. 
During  two  years  he  had  gone  through  more  than  two  thousand  dispatches 
to  ministers  at  home,  and  to  brother-diplomatists  abroad,  just  as  if  he  had 
been  an  Under-Secretary  at  the  Foreign  Office  for  the  forty  years — 1768- 
1809 — which  they  covered,  'arranging  and  collating  them,  and  investi- 
gating their  contemporary  history '. 

^  Letter,  April  11,  1813,  to  Lord  Camden,  who  had  sought  advice  in  the 
interest  of  his  nephew  '  destined  for  the  foreign  line  ',  Diaries  and  Corre- 
spondence, iv.  414.  This  letter  is  given  in  full  in  the  Appendix  below, 
pp.  234-6. 


38  Diplomacy  and  the 

We  are  perhaps  reduced  to  the  half-cynical  maxim  and  device 
of  Torcy,  that  the  best  way  of  deceiving  foreign  Courts  is 
always  to  speak  the  truth.  Or,  are  we  led  to  some  via  inedioy 
in  the  words  of  advice  of  a  senior  in  diplomacy  to  a  junior  : 
*  Take  snuflE  often  and  slowly,  sit  with  your  back  to  the  light,^ 
and  speak  the  truth  ;  the  rest  you  will  learn  by  observing  your 
older  colleagues '  ?  ^  Does  that  really  mean  to  seniors  priority 
in  niceties  of  conduct  that  shall  not  be  Machiavellian,  as  well 
as  in  resolute  avoidance  of  the  mixture  of  a  lie  which,  Bacon 
tells  us,  doth  ever  add  pleasure  ?  Halifax's  '  Trimmer '  ^ 
adored  the  goddess  Truth  and  all  who  worshipped  her,  but 

^  The  Emperor  Charles  V,  according  to  the  picture  of  him  drawn  by 
Sir  Richard  Moryson,  October  7,  1552,  had  little  need  to  adopt  this  device  : 
'  And  yet  hath  he  a  face,  that  is  as  unwont  to  disclose  any  hid  affection  of 
liis  heart,  as  any  face  that  ever  I  met  withal  in  my  life  ;  for  there  all  white 
colours  which,  in  changing  themselves,  are  wont  in  others  to  bring  a  man 
certain  word,  how  his  errand  is  liked  or  misliked,  have  no  place  in  his 
countenance  ;  his  eyes  only  do  bewray  as  much  as  can  be  picked  out  of 
him.  He  maketh  me  oft  think  of  Solomon's  saying :  Heaven  is  high, 
the  earth  is  deep,  a  king's  heart  is  unsearchable  ;  there  is  in  him  almost 
nothing  that  speaketh,  besides  his  tongue.' — Sir  Richard  Moryson  to  the 
Lords  of  Council,  Hardwicke,  Miscellaneous  State  Papers  (1778),  i.  51. 
William  I,  King  of  Piussia,  who  became  German  Emperor,  did  not  satisfy 
this  canon  of  kingcraft.  '  The  King  told  mc  an  untruth  to-day  ',  said 
Bismarck  on  November  29,  1870:  '  I  asked  him  if  the  bombardment'  of 
Paris  '  was  not  to  commence,  and  he  replied  that  he  had  ordered  it.  But 
I  knew  immediately  that  that  was  not  true.  I  know  him.  He  cannot  lie, 
or  at  least  not  in  such  a  way  that  it  cannot  be  detected.  He  at  once  changes 
colour,  and  it  was  particularly  noticeable  when  he  replied  to  my  question 
to-day.  When  I  looked  at  him  straight  into  his  eyes  he  could  not  stand  it.' 
— Busch,  Bismarck  (1898),  i.  337. 

*  KoUe,  Belrachtungen  iiber  Diplomalie,  278,  quoted  by  Bernard,  149. 

'^  For  a  short  statement  of  the  use  of  the  word  by  Halifax  sec  his  Preface 
to  Tbe  Character  oj  a  Trimmer  :  ' .  .  .  there  is  a  third  Opinion  of  those, 
who  conceive  it  would  do  as  well,  if  the  Boat  went  even,  without  endangering 
the  Passengers.' 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  39 

he  lamented  that  in  all  ages  she  had  been  scurvily  used,  and 
that  of  late  she  had  become  such  a  ruining  virtue  that  mankind 
seemed  to  be  agreed  to  commend  it  and  to  avoid  it.^ 

If  we  were  asked  to  point  to  an  illustration  of  the  normal 
advice  uttered  for  the  general  conduct  of  the  weighty  matters 
of  international  policy,  we  might  instance  the  words  of  Palmer- 
ston  to  Malmesbury  when  the  latter  became  Foreign  Secretary. 
After  warning  him  very  impressively  of  the  power  which  this 
country  owes  to  her  prestige,  he  continued  ;  '  All  the  Foreign 
Ministers  will  try  at  first  to  get  objects  which  they  have  been 
refused  by  successive  Governments ;  so  take  care  you  yield 
nothing  until  you  have  well  looked  into  every  side  of  the 
question.  When  the  diplomates  call,  do  not  be  too  reserved 
but  preface  your  observations  by  stating  that  what  you  say  is 
officious.^  ^  Is  it  normal  advice  ?  In  the  sense  that  it  enjoins 
a  looking  to  right  and  to  left  and  all  round,  the  advice  is  normal. 

In  a  less  scant  treatment  of  our  subject,  we  should  have 
attempted  a  more  precise  differentiation  of  diplomacy  and 
analysis  of  its  kinds,  not  after  the  manner  of  the  international 
lawyer,  but  for  historical  study  and  political  appreciation — 
such  as  the  diplomacy  of  courtesy  and  of  rudeness,  the  diplo- 
macy of  frankness,  of  cynicism  and  deceit,  the  diplomacy  of 
forcefulness  and  of  irresolution,  of  a  weak  benevolence  and 
a  slothful  overtrust  and  inertia. 

The  diplomacy  of  courtesy  we  may  illustrate  from  the  letter 
written  by  President  Tyler  of  the  United  States  of  America 

^  Ibid.  (ed.  1699),  95. 

*  Memoirs  of  an  Ex-Minister,  under  date  March  1 1,  1852,  An  '  officious  ' 
conversation  is  '  the  free  interchange  of  opinions  between  the  two  Ministers, 
and  compromises  neither '  ;  an  '  official '  correspondence  would  do  so,  and 
would  bind  their  Governments.  Lord  Malmesbury  tells  us  that  when  he 
was  at  the  Foreign  Office  he  always  prefaced  a  conversation  by  saying  on 
which  footing  it  was  to  be  understood.  Memoirs,  under  date  February  13, 
1852,  foot-note. 


40  Diplomacy  'and  the 

in  1843,  when  he  approached  the  Chinese  for  the  making  of 
a  treaty  and  for  the  same  privileges  as  had  just  been  accorded 
to  the  British  in  the  Treaty  of  Nanking,  The  letter  was  the 
first  communication  addressed  by  Washington  to  Peking  : 

*  I,  John  Tyler,  President  of  the  United  States  of  America — 
which  States  are  :  Maine,  .  .  .  Michigan — send  you  this  letter 
of  peace  and  friendship,  signed  by  my  own  hand. 

*  I  hope  your  health  is  good.  China  is  a  great  Empire, 
extending  over  a  great  part  of  the  world.  The  Chinese  are 
numerous.  You  have  millions  and  millions  of  subjects.  The 
twenty-six  United  States  are  as  large  as  China,  though  our 
people  are  not  as  numerous.  The  rising  sun  looks  upon  the 
great  mountains  and  rivers  of  China,  when  he  sets  upon  rivers 
and  mountains  equally  large  in  the  United  States.  Our 
territories  extend  from  one  great  ocean  to  the  other  ;  and  on 
the  west  we  are  divided  from  your  dominions  only  by  the  sea. 
Leaving  the  mouth  of  one  of  our  great  rivers  and  going 
constantly  towards  the  setting  sun,  we  sail  to  Japan  and  the 
Yellow  Sea. 

*  Now,  my  words  are  that  the  Governments  of  two  such 
great  countries  should  be  at  peace.  It  is  proper  and  according 
to  the  rule  of  Heaven  that  they  should  respect  one  another 
and  act  wisely.  I,  therefore,  send  to  your  Court  Caleb  Cushing, 
one  of  the  wise  and  learned  men  of  this  country.  On  his  first 
arrival  in  China  he  will  inquire  for  your  health.  He  has 
strict  orders  to  go  to  your  great  city  of  Peking,  and  there 
deliver  this  letter.  He  will  have  with  him  secretaries  and 
interpreters, 

'  The  Chinese  love  to  trade  with  our  people  and  to  sell 
them  tea  and  silk,  for  which  our  people  pay  silver,  and  some- 
times other  articles.^    But  if  the  Chinese  and  the  Americans 

*  Tocqueville  had  written  two  or  three  years  before  :  '  The  American 
starts  from  Boston  to  go  to  purchase  tea  in  China  :  he  arrives  at  Canton, 
stays  there  a  few  days,  and  then  returns.  In  less  than  two  years  he  has 
sailed  as  far  as  the  endre  circumference  of  the  globe,  and  he  has  seen  land 
but  once.  It  is  true  that  during  a  voyage  of  eight  or  ten  months  he  has 
drunk  brackish  water,  and  lived  upon  salt  meat ;  that  he  has  been  in  a 
continual  contest. with  the  sea,  with  disease,  and  with  a  tedious  existence  ; 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  41 

will  trade,  there  shall  be  rules,  so  that  they  shall  not  break 
your  laws  or  our  laws.  Our  Minister  Caleb  Gushing  is 
authorized  to  make  a  treaty  to  regulate  trade.  Let  it  be  just. 
Let  there  be  no  unfair  advantage  on  either  side.  Let  the 
people  trade  not  only  at  Canton,  but  also  at  Amoy,  Ningpo, 
Shanghai,  Foochow,  and  all  other  such  places  as  may  offer 
profitable  exchanges  both  to  China  and  the  United  States, 
provided  they  do  not  break  your  laws  or  our  laws.  We  shall 
not  take  the  part  of  evil-doers.  We  shall  not  uphold  them 
that  break  your  laws.  Therefore,  we  doubt  not  that  you  will 
be  pleased  that  our  messenger  of  peace  with  this  letter  in  his 
hand  shall  come  to  Peking  and  there  deliver  it ;  and  that  your 
great  officers  will  by  your  order  make  a  treaty  with  him  not  to 
disturb  the  peace  between  China  and  America.  Let  the  treaty 
be  signed  by  your  own  imperial  hand.  It  shall  be  signed  by 
mine,  and  by  the  authorities  of  our  great  council,  the  Senate. 
'  And  so  may  your  health  be  good,  and  may  peace  reign. 
Written  at  Washington,  this  twelfth  day  of  July,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-three. 
Your  good  friend,     \Seal\.'' 

Among  subordinate  traits  and  qualities  we  may  especially 
mention  irony — a  dangerous  weapon  in  politics,  whether  we 
think  of  it  as  the  ironical  rudeness  of  a  Bismarck  ^  in  his  Circular 

but,  upon  his  return,  he  can  sell  a  pound  of  his  tea  for  a  halfpenny  less 
than  the  English  merchant,  and  his  purpose  is  accomplished.' — De  la 
Democratic  en  Amerique,  translated  by  Reeve,  with  Preface  and  Notes  by 
Spence,  1838  (New  York),  404.  Tocqueville  concluded  the  chapter  with 
a  forecast  of  the  maritime  supremacy  of  the  Anglo-Americans.  *  When 
I  contemplate  the  ardour  with  which  the  Anglo-Americans  prosecute 
commercial  enterprise,  the  advantages  which  befriend  them,  and  the 
success  of  their  undertakings,  I  cannot  refrain  from  believing  that  they 
will  one  day  become  the  first  maritime  power  of  the  globe.  They  are  born 
to  rule  the  seas,  as  the  Romans  were  to  conquer  the  globe.' — Ibid.,  408. 

^  Bismarck  would,  however,  advise  for  a  general  rule  :  '  Be  polite  but 
without  irony.  Write  diplomatically.  Even  in  a  declaration  of  war  one 
observes  the  rules  of  politeness.'— Busch,  Bismarck,  i.  246.  '  Be  civil  to 
the  very  last  step  of  the  gallows,  but  hang  all  the  same.' — Ibid.,  i.  321. 
Such  expressions  of  opinion  arc,  at  least,  of  interest  as  coming  from  the 


42  Diplomacy  and  the 

touching  the  Emperor  Napoleon's  visit  to  Salzburg  in  1867, 
or  the  more  highly  polished  Voltairean  irony  of  Frederick  II, 
of  which  one  may  instance,  in  particular,  his  letters  to  Louis  XV 
just  before  the  Christmas  treaties  of  1745,  and  the  letter  of 
Christmas  Day  of  that  year.  To  Frederick,  who  had  himself 
been  a  doubtful  ally,  Louis,  another  doubtful  ally,  had  written, 
in  effect,  according  to  Frederick  :  if  misfortune  should  befall 
you,  you  have  my  promise  that  the  Academy  will  deliver 
a  funeral  oration  over  your  kingdom.  In  his  letter  of  Christmas 
Day,  Frederick  said  :  ^ 

*  I  had  expected  some  real  help  from  your  Majesty  in 
consequence  of  my  application  in  November  last.  I  will  not 
discuss  the  reasons  you  may  have  for  leaving  your  allies  to 
their  own  resources,  but  I  feel  happy  that  the  valour  of  my 
troops  has  saved  me  from  a  critical  situation.  If  I  had  been 
unfortunate,  you  would  only  have  pitied  me,  and  I  should 
have  been  helpless.  How  can  an  alliance  subsist,  unless  the 
two  parties  co-operate  heartily  towards  the  common  end  ? 
You  wish  me  to  take  counsel  of  my  own  wdts  :  I  obey.  And 
they  enjoin  me  to  put  an  end  at  once  to  a  war,  which,  as  it 
has  no  object  since  the  death  of  the  Emperor,  is  merely 
causing  a  useless  sacrifice  of  blood.  I  am  told  that  it  is  time 
to  think  of  my  own  safety  ;  that  a  large  force  of  Muscovites 
threatens  my  country ;  that  fortune  is  fickle,  and  that  I  have 
no  help  of  any  kind  to  expect  from  my  allies ;  .  .  .  that  after 
the  letter  I  have  just  received  from  your  Majesty,  nothing 
is  left  but  to  sign  peace,' 

and  to  remain  the  most  affectionate  brother  of  his  Most 
Christian  Majesty.     On  the  same  day,  in  a  communication 

'  editor '  of  the  Ems  telegram  and  the  appraiser  of  his  own  handiwork  at 
that  crisis — probably  beyond  its  due  weight. 

^  Histoire  de  mon  Temps,  ch.  xiv,  towards  the  end  ;  sec  also  Tuttle, 
History  oj  Prussia  under  Frederick  the  Great,  2  vols.  (1888),  ii.  50,  for  the 
slight  variation  between  the  version  as  given  by  Frederick  and  the  letter 
as  preserved  in  the  French  archives. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  43 

to  Valori,  the  French  Minister  at  Berlin,  Frederick  expressed 
his  pleasure — ^his  *  consolation  ' — ^that  he  had  '  never  received 
the  alms  of  France  '. 

Illustrations  of  diplomacy — ^personal  illustrations  and  illustra- 
tions of  type — history  furnishes  in  large  number  and  impressive 
variety,  and  from  many  lands  and  nearly  all  times,  whether  we 
think  of  the  intrigues  and  discussions  preserved  and  improvised 
for  us  by  the  ancient  classical  historians,  or  of  the  rise  of  modern 
diplomacy  in  the  city-states  of  Italy,  or  of  the  successes  due 
to  the  prudence  of  Richelieu  and  the  subtlety  of  Mazarin,  or 
the  cool  and  calculating  poUcy  of  William  III — Ranke's  man 
of  true  international  nature — ^the  brilliance  and  fragmentary 
triumph  of  a  Carteret,  the  cynicism  and  wit  of  a  Talleyrand. 

Successful  diplomacy  in  modern  times — diplomacy  sustained 
by  political  supports  in  well-considered  relation  to  military 
equipment,  and  successful  in,  at  least,  its  immediate  practical 
purpose — ^has  had  no  more  cogent  example  than  Bismarck  ; 
and  Bismarck,  as  he  once  declared,  was  no  doctrinaire  in 
politics.  In  1 861  he  outlined  his  programme  to  Disraeli — ^at 
a  dinner  in  London.  He  expected,  he  said,  to  be  called  upon, 
in  a  short  time,  to  undertake  the  direction  of  the  Prussian 
Government.  His  first  duty  would  be  to  reorganize  the  army. 
He  would  then  seize  the  first  really  good  pretext  to  declare 
war  against  Austria,  to  dissolve  the  German  Diet,  to  overpower 
the  middle  and  smaller  states,  and  to  give  to  Germany  a  national 
unity  under  the  leadership  of  Prussia.  Disraeli  remarked, 
'  Take  care  of  that  man ;  he  means  what  he  says  '.^  The  pro- 
gramme was  carried  out  to  the  letter.  Do  not  let  your  diplomacy 
outrun  your  preparations.  That  was  the  burden  of  the  charge 
brought  by  the  elder  Pitt  against  the  incompetents  at  the  outset 
of  the  Seven  Years'  War.  It  is  a  maxim  for  all  time  in  the 
conduct  of  foreign  policy ;  and  for  Bismarck,  with  the  plans 
^  Loftus,  Diplomatic  Reminiscences^  i.  ch.  xvi. 


44  Diplomacy  and  the 

he  had  formed,  it  was  necessary  to  see  that  the  preparation  was 
continuous — ^that  Prussia  was  always  and  increasingly  prepared. 
In  the  history  of  our  own  country — ^for  we  must  not,  in 
smug  complacency  and  with  a  show  of  unctuous  rectitude, 
merely  look  abroad  for  the  marks  of  diplomacy — ^we  might  go 
for  illustration  of  its  sinister  attributes  to  quarters  where, 
perhaps,  they  are  least  expected.  It  has  been  claimed  for 
OUver  Cromwell  that  he  was  '  no  Frederick  the  Great,  who 
spoke  of  mankind  as  diese  verdammte  Race — ^that  accursed  tribe ' : 
he  belongs  to  '  the  rarer  and  nobler  type  of  governing  men  who 
see  the  golden  side,  who  count  faith,  pity,  hope  among  the 
counsels  of  practical  wisdom,  and  who  for  political  power  must 
ever  seek  a  moral  base  '.^  We  should  not  be  content  with  that 
character  for  the  Protector  even  in  his  home  pohcy ;  still  less 
in  his  foreign  policy.  A  knowledge  of  the  diplomacy  of  1654 
is  of  itself  sufficient  to  destroy  the  picture  and  discredit  the 
artist.  It  used  to  be  thought  that  Cromwell  then  stood  forth 
as  arbiter  among  the  rulers  of  Europe,  and,  in  particular, 
that  the  monarchs  of  France  and  Spain  were  suitors  for  his 
support.*    Instead  of  this  the  facts  show  him  courting  France 

*  Morley,  Oliver  Cromwell  (1900),  469.  See,  however,  for  qualification, 
p.  434  in  the  chapter  on  Foreign  Policy  :  '  Like  every  other  great  ruler  in 
critical  times  and  in  a  situation  without  a  precedent,  he  was  compelled 
to  change  alliances,  weave  fresh  combinations,  abandon  to-day  the  ardent 
conception  of  yesterday.'  Lord  Morley  in  his  Recollections  (191 7)  has  made 
additional  reservations  in  deference  to  the  tyranny  of  circumstance. 

*  e.g.  Frederic  Harrison,  Oliver  Cromwell  (1895),  221:  'The  history 
of  England  offers  no  such  picture  to  national  pride  as  when  the  kings  and 
rulers  of  Europe  courted,  belauded,  fawned  on  the  farmer  of  Huntingdon.' 
For  a  judicious  estimate  see  Firth,  Oliver  Cromwell  (1905) — the  chapter 
on  '  Cromwell's  Foreign  Policy  ',  and  '  The  Epilogue  '.  '  Looked  at  from 
one  point  of  view,  he  seemed  as  practical  as  a  commercial  traveller  j  from 
another,  a  Puritan  Don  Quixote,'  389.  '  Political  inconsistency  is 
generally  attributed  to  dishonesty,  and  Cromwell's  dishonesty  was  open 
and  palpable.' 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  45 

and  Spain  alternately,  '  constant  only  in  his  inconstancy  '.* 
In  April  1654  the  Baron  de  Baas,  a  special  agent  of  Mazarin, 
astonished  Cromwell,  at  an  audience,  with  the  abundance  and 
accuracy  of  his  information  regarding  the  Protector's  designs 
and  intrigues,  and  concluded  with  the  ironical  request  that 
Cromwell  would  extricate  him  with  honour  from  the  labyrinth. 
Oliver's  countenance,  we  are  told,  fell ;  the  words  came  from 
his  mouth  more  slowly  than  was  his  wont ;  and  the  interpreter,^ 
after  conveying  a  halting  explanation  of  the  words  of  the 
Protector,  '  conveniently  remembered  that  his  Highness  had 
an  engagement  which  made  it  impossible  to  prolong  the 
conversation,  though  he  would  be  glad  to  resume  it  on  a  more 
fitting  occasion  '.^  At  no  other  time  in  the  history  of  England 
have  the  profession  and  the  pursuit  of  an  ideal  in  the  conduct 
of  foreign  policy  been  so  deeply  and  confusedly  involved  with 
material  motive  ;  and  it  was  entanglement  with  the  ideal 
that  brought  Cromwell  to  his  gravest  perils  both  in  morality 
and  in  achievement.  Be  it  added,  in  this  connexion,  that, 
although  many  of  the  facts  and  circumstances  were  unknown  to 
the  great  royalist  historian  and  statesman,  Clarendon,  in  The 
History  of  the  Rebellion  we  find  the  true  discreet  type  of  mind 
that  is  required  for  estimate  of  the  interests  that  underlie  the 
conduct  of  policy  among  nations ;  and  Clarendon  is  apprecia- 
tive of  Cromwell's  regard  for  such  interests.* 

But  farther  back  still  we  might  with  advantage  go — ^back 
as  far,  perhaps,  as  Henry  VH  for  the  lessons  to  be  gathered 
from  one  who  is  unsurpassed  among  English  kings  and  states- 
men for  combined  sagacity  and  subtlety ;  ^  back,  certainly,  to 

^  Gardiner,  History  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate,  ii.  (i  897),  477. 
^  Baas  spoke  in  French.  ^  Gardiner,  op.  dt.,  437-8. 

*  See,  e.g.  vii.  (ed.  1736),  20-1,  24-6,  37. 

*  Contemporary  English  writers,  it  has  been  said,  were  not  adequately 
equipped  for  an  appreciation  of  Henry  VII,  even  in  his  home  policy : 
they  could  not  *  penetrate  the  veil  of    subtle  statesmanship  by  which 


46  Diplomacy  and  the 

Wolsey,  master  of  diplomatic  divagations ;  back,  more  especially, 
to  that  other  Cromwell,  whose  manual  of  statecraft,  according 
to  his  enemy,  Cardinal  Pole,  was  The  Prince  of  Machiavelli. 
In  Thomas  Cromwell's  letters  diplomacy  is  revealed  in  its 
tortuousness,  hardness,  and  relentlessness.  Let  us  take  a  moder- 
ate example  and  an  extreme  personal  case. 

In  October  1537  Cromwell  wrote  to  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt 
directing  him  to  sound  the  Emperor  concerning  the  mediation 
which  Henry  VIII  had  proffered  between  Charles  V  and 
Francis  I  : 

' .  .  .  Your  parte  shal  be  nowe  like  a  good  oratour,  both  to 
set  furthe  the  princely  nature  and  inclynacion  of  his  highnes 
with  all  dexterite,  and  soo  to  observe  Themperours  answers 
to  the  said  overture  and  to  the  rest  of  the  pointes  in  the  same 
letteres  expressed,  as  you  may  thereby  fishe  the  botom  of  his 
stomake,  and  advertise  his  Majeste  howe  he  standeth  disposed 
towardes  him,  and  to  the  contynuance  of  thamytie  betwene 
them.  .  .  .  You  must  in  your  conference  with  themperour  take 
occasion  to  speake  of  all  those  matiers,  and  soo  frankely  to 
speake  of  them  as  you  may  feale  the  depenes  of  his  harte 
wherein  you  shall  doo  good  service.  .  .  .  Gentle  Maister  Wiat 
nowe  use  all  your  wisedome  rather  to  trye  out  howe  themperour 
is  disposed  towardes  the  kinges  highnes,  thenne  to  presse 
him  anything  to  agre  to  the  overture  of  mediacion  if  he  woU 
not  as  gentilly  embrace  it  as  it  is  made  freendly  unto  him. 
For  to  be  plain  with  you  thother  parte  declare  him  in  wordes 
towardes  his  Majeste  to  make  only  faire  wether,  and  in  his 

a  politic  and  peaceful,  but  watchful  and  suspicious  king,  was  putting  an  end 
to  the  long  reign  of  violence.  It  required  the  brain  of  an  Italian  * — a  Polydore 
Vergil. — Gairdncr,  Early  Chroniclers,  306.  For  diplomacy  during  the  reign, 
see  Calendar  of  Slate  Papers  :  Venice,  i,  and  Spain,  i.  Useful  extracts 
from  original  authorities  are  given  in  Pollard,  The  Reign  0/  Henry  VII  from 
Contemporary  Sources  (191 3,  1914),  »•  and  iii.  'No  English  statesman', 
it  is  claimed  for  Henry  in  his  foreign  policy,  '  achieved  so  much  at  so  small 
a  cost  *. — Ibid.,  i.  li.  See  also  Wilhelm  Busch,  England  under  the  Tudors,  i. 
(transl.  1895),  chh.  i  and  iv. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  47 

harte  dede  and  workes,  to  doo  all  that  he  canne  to  his  graces 
dishonour,  insomoche  as  they  host  themselfes  to  have  refused 
some  honest  offres  for  themselfes  bicause  they  were  knytt 
with  vile  and  filthie  conditions  towardes  his  Majeste.  And 
if  it  be  true  it  is  pitye  there  shuld  be  such  dissimulacion  in 
suche  a  prince,  and  specially  towardes  him,  whom  he  ought 
of  congruence  all  thinges  considered  to  observe  love  and 
honour  to  his  uttermost,  if  you  thinke  that  the  speaking  of 
thise  thinges  unto  him  may  be  any  meane  to  disciphre  his 
very  meanyng  bolte  them  out  of  yourself  as  signified  unto  you 
by  some  of  the  Agentes  of  the  Kinges  highnes  in  Fraunce. 
And  whenne  you  shal  be  in  communication  of  thise  matiers 
handle  them  with  suche  a  plain  franknes  as  youe  may  drawe 
sumwhat  out,  that  percace  resteth  yet  hidden  undre  a  colored 
cloke  of  freendeship  or  at  the  least  manifest  and  make  open 
that  like  a  prince  of  honour  he  meanith  as  he  pretendeth.'  ^ 

For   the   personal   case,   the   following,   from   a   letter,   in 
September    1537,   to   Michael  Throgmorton,   when   Thomas 
i  Cromwell  wished  to  secure  him  as  his  agent  at  Rome  against 
i  the  intrigues  of  Cardinal  Pole  in  Italy : 

I       ' . . .  I  myght  better  have  judged,  that  so  dishonest  a  maister, 

1  cowlde  have  but  evyn  suche  servantes  as  youe  ar.     No,  no, 

I  loyaltie  and  treason  dwell  seldome  togethers.     There  can  be 

i  no  feithfull  subject  so  long  abide  the  sight  of  so  haynous  a 

!  traytour  to  his  prince.      Yow  cowld  not  all  this  season  have 

I  byn  a  spie  for  the  king,  but  at  some  tyme  your  cowntenance 

I  shuld  have  declared  your  harte  to  be  loyall  towardes  your 

!  prince.  .  .  .  Yow  thinke  youe  doo  goode  servyce  there  to  the 

kinges  hieghnes ;    for  asmuche  as  yow  now  se  thinges,  that 

being  absent,  youe  shulde  not  have  seen,  such  verelye  as  might 

have  done  greate  damage  ;    if  youe  hadde  not  seen  them. 

!  Yow  have  bleared  myn  yee  ones  :  your  credite  shall  nevermore 

serve  youe  so  farr,  to  deceyve  me  the  second  tyme.     I  take 

youe  as  youe  ar.'  ^ 

^  Merriman,  Lije  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Cromwell  (1902),  ii.  92-3.     See 
also  the  letter  of  Cromwell  to  Wyatt,  March  i,  1538,  ibid.  122-5. 
2  Ibid.,  W.  87. 


48  Diplomacy  and  the 

*  You  have  bleared  my  eye  once  ...  I  take  you  as  you  are.' 
The  words  are  worthy  of  Machiavelli.^ 

There  is  no  smooth  and  easy  path  for  the  conduct  of  inter- 
national policy ;  nor  for  its  study.  The  fortunes  of  nations 
should  not  be  left  to  the  hazards  of  the  unforeseen.  Those 
who  are  responsible  for  guiding  relations  between  States 
need  a  vast  equipment  in  knowledge  and  in  aptitude.  They 
must  know  the  resources,  the  constitution  and  manner  of 
government,  the  treaty  obligations,  the  character  of  the 
dominant  personalities,  the  national  temperament  and  national 
objects,  both  of  their  own  State  and  of  its  connexions — 
sometimes  unruly  and  suspicious  connexions — in  the  Family  of 
Nations.  They  must  well  consider  the  relation  of  means  to  ends. 
Here,  without  any  doubt,  there  is  need  of  eyes  for  the  past,  the 
present,  and  the  future — ^need  of  the  three  eyes  of  prudence  : 
memory,  intelligence,  providence.  By  these  Fortuna  is  won. 
Of  all  the  regions  of  politics  there  is  no  other  of  which  it  is  so 
strictly  true  as  of  the  international,  that  only  the  most  complete 
knowledge  and  command  available  of  all  the  factors  should  be 
allowed  to  count,  whether  for  those  who  direct  or  for  those 
in  a  succeeding  age  who  try  to  judge  them.  There  is  often 
in  History  and  Politics  some  *  one  thing  unknown  '  that  is 
required  as  the  key  to  all.  Especially  has  that  been  true  of 
policy  between  State  and  State. 

It  is  not  otherwise,  in  its  own  degree,  with  the  study  of  foreign 
poUcy.  As  the  work,  so  the  study.  Here,  too,  there  is  need  of 
alertness,  circumspection,  sagacity.     It  is  necessary  to  search 

*  Sec  a  letter  to  Thomas  Cromwell  from  Stephen  Vaughan — an  agent  of 
Cromwell  at  Antwerp,  in  London  at  the  time  of  writing  :  an  abject  appeal 
for  forgiveness  for  '  one  onely  fawte,  the  first  and  laste  that  ever  I  comytted 
against  youe  .  .  .  not  the  unassurest  or  untrustiest  of  your  frends.  Yowe 
have  sore  abasshed  and  astonyed  me.'^Ellis,  Original  Lftters,  third  series, 
ii.  215-16. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  49 

out  and  to  estimate  all  the  factors.  But  at  the  several  crises 
of  international  relations,  and  in  the  decisive  leading-up  to 
them,  it  is  the  more  particular  factors,  or  general  factors  in 
particular  forms,  that  are  at  work,  and  that  are  to  be  discovered, 
scrutinized,  and  estimated  ;  and  here  most  of  all  in  history  it 
is  necessary  to  get  to  the  sources,  and  necessary  at  times  to 
admit  that  the  sources  are  not  wholly  adequate,  because  they 
have  not  been,  and  may  never  be,  fully  revealed.  It  is  necessary 
also  to  remember  that  the  sources  are  not  in  one  land  only, 
and  that  the  tinctures  are  from  mixed  and  varied  soils.  It  is 
more  than  useless — ^it  is  culpably  misleading — for  a  writer 
to  take  only  one  set  of  dispatches,  or  those  of  one  State  only, 
when  he  is  expounding  some  development,  or  even  a  mere 
phase,  in  foreign  policy.  He  must  collate  the  dispatches  of 
a  State  to  several  capitals,  and  set  these  against  those  of  foreign 
Powers,  on  the  question  that  is  being  considered.  The  inquirer, 
for  example,  into  the  immediate  antecedents  of  '  the  Diplo- 
matic Revolution  '  of  the  eighteenth  century  will  find,  at  the 
crisis  of  things  towards  the  close  of  1755,  more  to  engage  his 
attention  at  Petersburg  than  at .  London  or  Berlin,  Paris  or 
Vienna.  The  volumes  of  the  French  Reciieil  des  Instructions 
donnees  aux  Ambassadeurs  et  Ministres  de  Trance  defuis  les 
Traites  de  Westphalie  jusqu'd  la  Revolution  francaise  ^  afford 
an  excellent  opportunity  for  partial  collation  in  the  study 
of  diplomacy,  and  for  the  exercise  of  historical  caution. 

Not  least  must  the  inquirer  observe  and  faithfully  report 
whether  the  dispatches  and  other  official  papers  which  he 
presents  and  builds  upon  are  complete  or  merely  fragmentary 
Does  he  find,  or  can  he  himself  divine,  the  ominous  word 
*  extract '  in  the  dispatches  he  reads  ?  Are  the  dispatches, 
as  published,  such  as  the  late  Lord  Salisbury  once  described  : 

^  '  Public  sous  les  auspices  de  la  Commission  des  Archives  diplomatiques 
au  Minist^re  des  Affaires  ^trangeres',  1884  and  subsequent  years. 
2224  2 


50  Diplomacy  and  the 

*  mere  headless  trunks  of  despatches,  without  heads  or  legs, 
and  with  a  large  hole  run  through  the  body '  ?  ^  He  must 
try  to  find  out  whether  the  '  most  secret  letters  '  that  precede, 
accompany  or  follow  even  confidential  dispatches  are  still 
available,  and  how  far  they  explain  what  the  dispatch  has 
intentionally  left  partly  hidden.  Much  remains ;  and  for  that 
he  will  have  to  go,  not  to  speeches  and  writings  of  the  day, 
whether  officially  inspired,  independent  or  irresponsible — 
however  helpful  and  necessary  these  may  be  for  a  knowledge 
of  the  general  situation  and  an  understanding  of  the  psychology 
of  a  people — but  to  the  most  intimate  revelations  of  the  prime 
movers,  and  to  private  letters  and  journals  of  those  who  had 
the  privilege  of  knowing,  or  to  whom  came  the  chance  of 
hearing,  with  perhaps  a  fatal  facility  and  imagination  in 
describing.  For  material  of  this  kind  we  have  usually  had  to 
wait  at  least  a  generation  after  the  time  of  the  events  themselves. 
Even  then  there  may  be  the  *  one  thing  unknown  '.  The 
admission  should  be  less  rare — and  why  churlish  ?— on  the 
part  of  historical  writers.* 

Bismarck  is  reported  to  have  said  that  diplomatic  reports  are 
little  better  than  paper  smeared  with  ink,  if  the  object  in  view 
be  the  truth  of  things  and  possession  of  material  for  history. 
Even  the  dispatches  that  do  contain  information  cannot  be 
understood  except  by  those  who  know  the  writers  and  the  men 
and  the  things  written  about.  One  must  know,  he  said,  what 
a  Gortschakolf,  a  Gladstone,  or  a  Granville  had  in  his  mind 
when  he  made  the  statements  that  are  reported  in  the  dispatch. 

*  Essays  by  the  late  Marquess  of  Salisbury  :  Foreign  Politics  (1905),  210. 
The  essay  entitled  '  Foreign  Policy '  appeared  first  in  1864. 

*  In  this  and  the  two  preceding  paragraphs  I  have  made  use  of  part  of 
a  pamphlet  entitled  International  Relations,  which  I  wrote  in  February 
1916  for  The  Historical  Association  of  Scotland,  and  which  was  reprinted 
for  The  Historical  Association  (of  England). 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  51 

It  is  to  private  letters  and  confidential  communications  and 
to  verbal  ones  that  we  must  look  for  information  of  the  real 
influences  at  work.  '  The  Emperor  of  Russia,  for  instance, 
is  on  the  whole  very  friendly  to  us — ^from  tradition,  for  family 
reasons,  and  so  on — ^and  also  the  Grand  Duchesse  Helene,  who 
influences  him  and  watches  him  on  our  behalf.  The  Empress, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  not  our  friend.  But  that  is  only  to  be 
ascertained  through  confidential  channels  and  not  officially.'  ^ 
The  chief  danger  to  be  averted  in  the  conduct  of  foreign 
policy  is,  as  has  already  been  said,  that  of  allowing  diplomacy 
to  outrun  preparations  and  the  strength  on  which  success  in 
diplomacy  must  ultimately  depend.  If  we  turn  our  view 
inward  upon  the  nation  itself,  we  shall  translate  that  formula 
without  violence  into  the  expression,  that  a  nation  must  not 
acquire  a  reputation  for  inconstancy  and  caprice.  In  this  part 
of  our  subject  we  might  have  been  not  unhappily  spacious 
where  we  shall  now  be  severely  concise.  We  might  cite  well- 
known  examples  of  the  inconsistencies,  arbitrariness,  and 
excesses  of  the  Athenian  democracy  in  the  realm  of  foreign 
affairs,  and  one  might  point  in  contrast  to  the  impressive 
eulogy  passed  by  Mommsen  on  the  Roman  Senate  ^  in  the 

^  Busch,  i.  559-60,  under  February  22,  1871.  Bismarck,  speaking  of 
his  Frankfort  experiences,  said  of  Count  Rechberg — Austrian  Minister  and 
President  of  the  Diet  at  Frankfort — that  he  was  at  least  honourable  from 
a  personal  standpoint,  although,  as  an  Austrian  diplomat  of  that  time,  he 
was  not  able  to  pay  too  strict  a  regard  to  truth.  Rechberg  once  received 
a  dispatch  in  which  he  was  instructed  to  maintain  cordial  relations  with 
Prussia,  and  a  second  dispatch,  sent  to  him  at  the  same  time,  in  which  an 
exactly  opposite  course  was  enjoined.  Bismarck,  calling  on  him,  was 
inadvertently  handed  the  second  dispatch  to  read  ;  begging  Rechberg's 
pardon  for  having  been  given  the  wrong  one,  he  consoled  him  with  an 
assurance  that  he  would  take  no  advantage  of  the  mistake,  but  would  use 
it  merely  for  his  personal  information.    Ibid.  i.  373. 

*  '  Called  to  power,  not  by  the  empty  accident  of  birth,  but  substantially 

E  2 


52  Diplomacy  and  the 

days  of  its  greatness  amid  grave  problems  for  the  State  abroad, 
and,  in  turn,  we  might  contrast  that  eulogy  with  the  strictures 
pronounced  by  the  Marquess  Wellesley  on  the  Spanish  Junta 
as  a  political  instrument.^  But  we  do  well  to  remember  that 
politics  as  a  study  is  apt  to  be  made  a  playground  of  analogies, 
and  we  should  come  to  no  absolute  judgement  as  to  whether 
an  autocracy,  open  or  veiled,  a  bureaucracy,  howsoever  founded 
and  inspired,  or  the  moderated  democracy  is  the  best  fitted 
for  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs.  We  should  go  back  to  our 
primary  tests,  and  inquire  who  the  people  are  we  are  consider- 
ing, what  is  the  work  to  be  done,  what  the  conditions. 

We  cannot  by  mere  examples  prove  or  disprove  in  such 
a  matter  as  this.  One  will  point  to  the  cases  of  instability  and 
untrustworthiness  where  parliamentary  conditions  have  held 
sway.  Another,  with  equal  force,  will  warn  us  that  a  Frederick  II 
required  for  Prussia  a  Frederick  II  as  his  successor,  whereas 
there  came  not  a  Solomon  but  a  Rehoboam.^    A  third  will 

by  the  free  choice  of  the  nation  ;  confirmed  every  fifth  year  by  the  stem 
moral  judgement  of  the  worthiest  men  ;  holding  office  for  life,  and  so  not 
dependent  on  the  expiration  of  its  commission  or  on  the  varying  opinion 
of  the  people  ;  having  its  ranks  closed  and  united  even  after  the  equalization 
of  its  orders  ;  embracing  in  it  all  the  pohdcal  intelligence  and  practical 
statesmanship  that  the  people  possessed  ;  absolute  in  dealing  with  all 
financial  questions  and  in  the  control  of  foreign  policy  ;  having  complete 
power  over  the  executive  by  virtue  of  its  brief  duration  and  of  the 
tribunitian  veto  which  was  at  the  service  of  the  Senate  after  the 
termination  of  the  quarrels  between  the  orders — the  Roman  Senate  was 
the  noblest  organ  of  the  nation,  and  in  consistency  and  political  sagacity, 
in  unanimity  and  patriotism,  in  grasp  of  power  and  unwavering  courage, 
the  foremost  political  corporation  of  all  times  .  .  .  which  knew  well  how  to 
combine  despotic  energy  with  republican  self-devotion.' — History  oj  Rome. 

*  See  Appendix,  pp.  259-60. 

*  See  Seeley,  Life  and  Times  oJ  Stein,  Part  it,  ch.  ii  on  the  character 
of  the  Prussian  State,  and  Part  i,  ch.  v  for  judicious  observations  on  the 
relation  of  the  internal  economy  of  a  State  to  its  foreign  policy. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  53 

draw  attention  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  foreign  policy  of 
Russia.  Forgetting,  perhaps,  that  autocracy  was  at  times 
far  from  prevaiUng  there,  he  may  be  tempted  from  one  case 
to  deduce  and  learn  all,  since  in  1762,  within  seven  months — 
months  most  momentous  to  Prussia — the  policy  of  Russia, 
or  policy  from  Russia,  toward  Frederick  was  at  first  strongly 
hostile,  under  Elizabeth,  then  cordially  and  melodramatically 
favourable  under  Peter  III,  and  finally,  on  his  deposition, 
discreetly  neutral  and  watchful  under  Catherine  11.^  Well 
may  one  point  to  the  warnings  of  the  French  Government  to 
its  representatives  at  Petersburg,  a  few  years  later,  to  watch  over 
the  '  convulsive  movements '  and  warring  counsels  at  the 
Russian  court ;  ^  and  a  few  years  later  still  we  have  the  vivid 

^  For  an  excellent  list  of  authorities  on  this  revolutionary  year,  see 
Recueil  des  Instructions  .  .  . :  Russie,  ii.  195,  foot-note. 

^  '  Dcs  mouvements  convulsifs,  une  politique  changeante  rendent  ses 
forces  presque  toujours  Inutiles  a  ses  allies.  II  faut,  par  consequent,  se 
borner  a  etudier  les  facilites  que  le  pays  a  toujours  fournies  pour  le  maintenir 
dans  un  etat  d'inquietude,  de  crise  et  de  faction.  Cette  cour  a  elle-meme 
pour  principe  d'entretenir  les  divisions  entre  ses  differents  conseils  et  ses 
ministres,  precaution  -a  la  verite  necessaire  dans  un  pays  despotique.' — 
Instructions  secretes  pour  le  sieur  Rossignol,  Consul  de  France  a  Peters- 
bourg,  20  juin  1765,  ibid.  ii.  249.  Cf.  :  *  La  cour  de  Russie  est  remplie 
d'intrigues,  de  brigues,  de  cabales.  Le  baron  de  Breteuil,  sans  entrer  dans 
aucune,  s'etudiera  a  les  demeler  et  a  connoitre  ceux  qui  ont  le  plus  credit 
pres  de  la  souveraine  ou  dans  la  nation.' — Instruction  secrete  et  particuliere 
pour  le  baron  de  Breteuil  ...  a  Petersbourg,  i  avril  1760,  ibid.  ii.  152. 
See  Rulhiere  (Secretary  to  the  Embassy  under  Breteuil),  Histoire  et  anecdotes 
sur  la  revolution  de  Russie  en  1^62.  On  February  8,  1757,  Mitchell, 
at  Brunswick,  had  written  to  Holdernesse,  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Northern  Department :  ' .  .  .  I  must  .  .  .  put  your  Lordship  in  Mind  how 
fickle  the  Court  of  Russia  has  been,  and  how  changeable  their  resolutions 
are.  Your  Lordship  will  remember  that  within  these  few  months,  Sir  Charles 
Williams  [British  representative  at  Petersburg]  has  been  upon  the  Point 
of  succeeding  in  His  Negotiations,  which  was  defeated  by  a  remittance  of 
Money  from  Vienna,  and  that  the  late  fiery  Declarations  of  the  Czarina 


54  Diplomacy  and  the 

and  despairing  pictures  of  Sir  James  Harris,  the  British  repre- 
sentative, when  he  had  to  manoeuvre  with  Catherine,  with 
Panin  and  Potemkin.  In  a  dispatch  of  July  1780 — z.  critical 
year  for  Britain — ^Harris  states  that  Prince  Potemkin,  the 
favourite  of  the  Empress,  assured  him  that  at  certain  moments 
she  seemed  to  be  determined  to  join  Britain ;  but  she  was 
restrained  by  the  prospect  of  bringing  on  herself  the  sarcasms 
of  the  French  and  of  Frederick  of  Prussia,  and  especially  by  the 
dread  of  losing  by  ill-success  the  reputation  she  had  won.^ 
In  these  circumstances  the  *  enervating  language '  of  Count 
Panin,  her  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  was  more  agreeable  to 
her  than  the  advice  of  Potemkin.  Still,  in  this  matter  of 
fostering  the  League  of  Neutrality  against  the  interests  of 
Britain,  she  began  to  feel,  according  to  the  declaration  of  her 
favourite,  that  she  had  been  influenced  too  far  by  the  Minister  : 
she  really  regretted  her  action  as  ill-considered,  and  yet  her 
pride  would  not  allow  her  to  recant.  *  When  things  go 
smoothly ',  said  Potemkin,  '  my  influence  is  small ;  but  when 
she  meets  with  rubs  she  always  wants  me,  and  then  my  influence 

are  the  Effect  of  Passion,  and  Resentment,  and  grounded  upon  fabe  Facts 
and  suggestions  made  by  Count  Bruhl  and  His  Associates,  to  mislead  that 
weak  and  corrupted  Court,  which  Is  not  even  now  In  a  condition  to  fulfill 
what  It  has  promised,  without  being  supplied  with  larger  Sums  of  Money 
than  the  Court  of  Vienna  can  afford  ;  nor  can  I  persuade  myself  that 
France  will  pay  for  the  march  and  subslstance  of  a  Russian  Army  to  serve 
Purposes  purely  Austrian.' — P.R.O.,  Prussia,  68.  On  October  15  of  the 
same  year  Mitchell  wrote  to  Holdernesse  :  ' ...  If  the  Empress  of  Russia 
should  die,  I  hope  not  a  moment  will  be  lost  to  Improve  an  event  that  may 
still  save  the  whole.  How  melancholy  it  is  to  think,  that  the  Fate  of 
Europe  should  depend  upon  such  accidents.' — P.R.O.,  Prussia,  70. 

^  '  L'amour  de  la  gloire  et  le  desir  de  reparer  aux  yeux  de  I'univers  le 
vice  de  son  elevation  ont  fait  de  Catherine  II  une  princesse  dont  le  rcgnc 
fera  epoque  dans  Thlstolre  du  monde.' — Instruction,  May  6,  1780,  to  the 
Marquis  de  Verac,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Empress  :  Instructions 
. .  . :  Russity  ii.  353. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  55 

becomes  as  great  as  ever.'  ^  Two  months  before  these  words 
were  written,  Harris  had  described  the  French  as  indefatigable 
in  their  efforts  to  get  round  the  Empress  :  their  agents  were 
many  at  Petersburg,  and  they  spared  no  expense  and  no  pains 
to  overset  everything  that  he  undertook.*  In  this  very  month — 
May  1780 — the  British  representative  had  his  character 
drawn  not  unfairly  in  an  instruction,  signed  by  Louis  XVI 
and  by  Vergennes,  to  one  regarding  whom  Catherine  had  given 
the  assurance  that  he  would  be  very  well  received  at  her 
Court  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  France  :  '  II  paroit 
que  le  ministre  anglais  a  Petersbourgest  I'homme  le  plus  capable 
de  mettre  a  profit  ce  que  la  ruse  et  les  petits  moyens  peuvent 
faire  pour  suppleer  aux  avantages  qu'il  sent  bien  avoir  perdus.'  ^ 
Monarchy  rests,  in  principle,  on  unity,  and  it  emphasizes 
the  need  for  stability  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  of  State.  Effective 
monarchy  affords,  during  its  continuance,  a  better  guarantee 
for  persistence  in  policy  and  consistency  in  action  than  a 
democracy  or  a  parliamentary  government,  based  on  diversities, 
on  discussion,  on  considerable  publicity,  and  on  provisions  duly 
made  within  the  constitution  for  changes  in  policy  in  response 
to  changes  in  opinion.  But  facts  and  conditions  relative  to 
each  constitution — ^the  extent,  for  example,  to  which  monarchy 
can  proceed  without  carrying  the  nation  with  it — ^are  the 
determining  forces.  They  overrule  forms,  and  mould  the 
instruments  of  rule.  A  monarchy  may  pnrsue  methods  that 
are  essentially  democratic— methods  that  not  only  have  the 

^  Diaries  and  Correspondence  oj  James  Harris,  first  Earl  of  Malmesbury, 
i.  (2nd  ed.),  281-2.  The  dispatch,  July  21/August  i,  1780,  dealt  with 
conversations  with  Potemkin  during  a  visit  of  five  days  to  his  country 
house  in  Finland.  Of  Potemkin  Harris  wrote  :  '  Hi»  way  of  life  is  as 
singular  as  his  character ;  his  hours  for  eating  and  sleeping  are  uncertain, 
and  we  were  frequently  airing  in  the  rain  in  an  open  carriage  at  midnight.* 

^  Ibid.  266,  May  1 5/26,  1 780. 

^  Instructions  .  .  .  :  Russie,  ii.  367,  May  6,  1780. 


56  Diplomacy  and  the 

approval,  but  require  the  active  co-operation,  of  the  com- 
munity. In  methods  adopted  for  a  definite  end,  democracy 
may  be  secretive,  repressive,  arbitrary.  A  *  free  government  ' 
(to  continue  the  language  of  an  earlier  day)  is  still  government. 
It  cannot  evade  the  tests  of  success  to  which  all  government  is 
subject.  A  '  government  by  consent  '  (the  now  approved 
definition  of  democracy)  may  accept  a  one-man  power  and 
ascendancy — a  Pericles  or  an  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  military 
dictator,  or  a  soldier-statesman,  and  not  merely  a  War  Cabinet. 
Still,  a  constitution  that  is  predominantly  monarchic  differs 
from  a  constitution  that  is  predominantly  democratic  and 
parliamentary  in  requiring  less  regular,  less  continuous,  and  less 
immediate  dependence  on  the  expressed  or  ascertainable  will 
of  the  nation  or  of  the  majority  or  the  stronger  part  of  those 
who  are  invested  with  political  rights  and  power.  A  democratic 
constitution  may  be  held  to  be  necessary  in  domestic  govern- 
ment in  a  modern  State,  but  may,  without  inconsistency,  be 
condemned,  or  in  essentials  curtailed,  in  its  application  to 
international  policy.  The  spheres  of  application  are  different. 
In  seeking  to  shape  and  control  foreign  policy  the  politically 
enfranchised  majority  of  a  people  are  passing  beyond  the 
concerns  of  one  nation — ^their  own — to  those  of  others.  In 
these  others  the  methods  adopted  may  not  be  in  consonance 
with  freedom  of  discussion  and  unrestrained  publicity.  They 
may  be  methods  that  recognize,  tacitly  or  frankly,  that  rule 
has  its  mysteries,  its  rites,  and  even  its  hierarchy.  In  them 
special  capacity  may  be  assigned  its  sphere  and  may  inspire 
confidence ;  or  particular  ways  and  means  may  be  on  their 
trial.  Against  monarchy  and  despotism,  however,  charges  of 
vacillation  due  to  whims  and  jealousies,  as  well  as  to  limits  of 
knowledge  and  capacity,  have  been  nuny.  The  materials  for 
such  charges  were  abundant  in  Russia  before  she  had  fixed 
her  purpose  in  an  Eastern  policy,  and  before  she  had  a  tradition 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  57 

to  maintain  in  policy  and  in  the  zeal  and  tenacity  of  State 
officers,  themselves  genuinely  Russian. 

The  path  of  inquiry  in  comparative  politics  is  very  alluring, 
but  it  is  dangerously  devious.  It  is  better  to  concentrate  on 
one  political  system,  and  to  get  the  lessons  as  sharp  and  decisive 
as  possible.  If  w^e  look  to  our  own  government  since  the  time 
when  a  parHamentary  system  began  to  prevail  in  England,  we 
find  an  almost  unbroken  line  of  appeal  to  close  the  ranks  and 
maintain  unity  of  mind  and  purpose  for  unity  in  action,  where 
the  interests  of  the  country  have  had  to  be  adjusted  to  the 
interests  and  the  contentions  of  others.  We  need  not  press 
very  far  the  charges  made  at  the  time,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  later  by  historians,  more  especially  Continental,  that  on 
several  notable  occasions  Britain,  through  the  force  of  party 
influences,  was  false  of  faith  to  her  allies — during  the  Spanish 
Succession  War,  and  again  in  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession, 
without  taking  account  of  the  more  exceptional  case  of  the 
*  desertion  '  or  '  betrayal ',  as  it  has  been  termed,  of  the  cause 
of  Frederick  II  of  Prussia  before  his  day  of  danger  was  over. 
The  historical  and  political  writer,-*-  to  whom  probably  more 
than  to  any  other  these  charges  have  owed  wide  currency, 
stated  them  dispassionately,  without  acrimony.  They  were 
urged  as  charges  due  to  the  faults  of  a  constitutional  system  ; 
they  were  not  brought  forward  as  unqualified  charges  of  a 
violation  of  public  faith.  The  minister  who  was  chiefly 
responsible  for  terminating  the  war  in  each  case  was  not  the 
minister,  and  did  not  represent  the  party  or  the  political 
connexion,  that  had  been  in  power  when  the  war  was  entered 

^  Heeren  (A.  H.  L.),  -who  was  Knight  of  the  Guelphic  Order,  Councillor, 
and  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Gottingen,  born  1760,  died 
1842.  See  especially  his  '  Historical  Development  of  the  Rise  and  Growth 
of  the  Continental  Interests  of  Great  Britain '. — Historical  Treatises, 
translated  (1836)  from  the  German  (1821),  351-2 ;   cf.  314-15. 


58  Diplomacy  and  the 

upon,  or  when  it  was  prosecuted  with  vigour  and  success. 
Hence,  it  was  concluded,  without  reserve,  if  also  without 
bitterness  and  the  injustice  of  extremes,  that  the  Government 
in  Britain  cannot  guarantee  with  the  same  assurance  as  others 
the  performance  of  its  obligations ;  and,  it  was  rightly  con- 
tended, the  consequence  in  respect  of  foreign  Powers  was  most 
pernicious.  It  was,  however,  admitted  that  on  the  part  of 
Continental  Powers  physical  impossibilities — ^a  total  subjuga- 
tion or  some  extreme  trial  and  distress — ^might  prevent  the 
fulfilment  of  their  obligations  :  *  a  case  which  can  scarcely 
be  supposed  to  occur  with  respect  to  England  '.^  The  capacity 
of  Britain  to  endure  physical  strain  was  acknowledged  to  a  degree 
that  Montesquieu  would  have  commended — that  high  degree 
which  the  experience  of  two  great  wars,  in  spite  of  a  bitter 
lesson  in  an  intervening  one,  seemed  to  have  established  for 
the  people  of  Britain  since  the  eulogy  of  her  by  the  author  of 
the  work  De  VEsprit  des  Lois  had  been  published.^  Britain's 
non-fulfilment  of  obligations  to  foreign  Powers  was  to  be 
ascribed,  if  not  to  a  clear  breach  of  poUtical  morality,  at  least 
to  the  character  and  consequences  of  conventions,  and  to 
conventions  that  had  acquired  the  force  of  principles,  in  the 
ordering  of  her  political  life.  The  non-fulfilment  of  obligations 
by  Continental  Powers  was  to  be  ascribed  to  physical  duress, 
to  the  imperious  calls  of  nature,  to  which  the  State  for  its  own 
safety,  the  community  for  the  sake  of  bare  existence,  must 
submit. 

It  is  instructive  to  observe  how  such  a  critic  and  apologist 
finds  no  need  to  condone,  as  though  it  were  reprehensible,  the 
action  of  Frederick  II  as  an  ally  of  France  in  the  course  of  his 
Silesian  Wars — and  the  designation  of  the  wars  is  at  once 
almost  Frederick's  condemnation  and  his  defence — ^between 
1740  and  1745.  He  sees  in  Frederick's  action  ground  for 
*  Historical  Treatises^  352.  *  In  1748. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  59 

praise  for  consummate  skill ;  he  claims  for  him  political  judge- 
ment almost  unique.  Frederick  began  the  war  on  his  own 
account  against  Austria,  and  without  the  help  of  France. 
Soon  he  was  in  active  alliance  with  the  French,  but  as  early  as 
1742  he  came  to  terms  with  Austria,  and  left  France  fighting. 
Two  years  later  he  resumed  the  struggle,  was  again  allied  to 
France,  and  again,  after  only  sixteen  months,  abandoned 
her  ;  and  his  Christmas  letter  of  1745  to  Louis  we  have  already 
produced.  The  interests  of  Frederick  did  not  coincide  with 
those  of  France  ;  he  was  not  a  champion,  accredited  and  self- 
sacrificing,  of  the  interests  of  France,  of  the  Westphalian  role 
and  historic  mission  of  France.  He  had  no  desire  to  witness 
the  aggrandizement  of  France  at  the  cost  of  the  annihilation 
of  the  monarchy  of  Austria.  Therefore,  it  is  contended,  to 
understand  him  is  to  admire  him.  '  The  art,  till  then  unknown 
in  Europe,  of  concluding  alliances  without  committing  one's 
self,  of  remaining  unfettered  while  apparently  bound,  of 
seceding  when  the  proper  moment  is  arrived,  can  be  learnt 
from  him  and  only  from  him.'  Intrepidity  in  conduct, 
freedom  characterizing  every  movement,  a  straightforwardness 
which  was  not,  however,  unaccompanied  by  cunning — in 
a  word,  superiority  over  his  contemporaries  :  these  are  claimed 
for  Frederick,  and  deduced  from  his  conduct  as  an  ally. 
'  The  immutable  truth,  that  independence  of  character  is 
of  more  value  in  negotiation  than  brilliant  talents,  and 
rises  in  importance  proportionately  to  the  eminence  of  the 
station  in  which  the  possessor  is  placed,  no  one  has  more 
strikingly  attested  by  his  own  example  than  Frederic  at  that 
period.'  ^ 

The  apologist  of  Frederick  well  knew  the  fortitude  displayed, 
in  the  course  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  by  Prussians  and  pre- 
eminently by  the  Prussian  King — a  '  truly  great  King ',  his 
^  Heeren,  op.  cit.,  316-17. 


6o  Diplomacy  and  the 

fellow- worker,  the  elder  Pitt,  called  him.*  He  had,  moreover, 
lived  through  the  years  of  Prussia's  humiliation  and  agony 
under  the  iron  heel  of  Napoleon,  and  had  witnessed  her  political 
recovery  and  her  national  triumph.  He  was  a  student  of 
Frederick's  historical  writings,^  and  from  laudation  of  his 
achievements  and  success  he  went  back,  and  was  almost  forced, 
to  approval  of  his  means — to  an  apologia  of  his  political  morality. 
The  same  thinker  declared  that  history  would  never  forget 
the  almost  incredible  exertions  made  by  Britain  in  the  final 
struggle  against  Napoleon  for  the  liberation  of  Europe.  In 
appraising  her  achievement  he  thought  not  only  of  the  advan- 
tages conferred  upon  her  by  her  insular  position,  but  also  of 
the  fertilizing  effects  of  her  constitutional  system  in  propagating 
on  the  Continent  those  political  opinions  which  inspired  the 
last  fight  against  the  despot  and  called  for  sustenance  and 
constant  encouragement  if  they  were  to  prevail.  He  was  no 
advocate  for  imposing  her  constitutional  system  as  a  general 
model,  and  yet  he  was  so  gravely  impressed  with  the  results 
of  its  working  and  with  the  force  of  its  example,  and  so  favour- 
ably disposed  to  the  mediating  function  which  Britain  exercised 
among  Continental  Powers,  as  to  express,  not  less  for  her  than 
for  his  own  country,  the  wish  Esto  Perpetua?  The  recording 
of  such  judgements  has  at  least  the  value  that  we  may  guard 

^  ' .  .  .  the  heroic  constancy  of  spirit  and  unexampled  activity  of  mind 
of  that  truly  great  King.' — Pitt  to  Andrew  Mitchell,  September  9,  1760, 
Correspondence  of  William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham  (1838),  ii.  58.  Cf.  his 
letter  to  Mitchell,  March  31,  1757:  'The  most  grateful  sentiments  of 
veneration  and  zeal  for  a  Prince,  who  stands  the  unshaken  bulwark  of 
Europe,  against  the  most  powerful  and  malignant  confederacy  that  ever 
yet  has  threatened  the  independence  of  mankind.' — Ellis,  Original  Letters, 
2nd  series,  iv.  404. 

*  Contained  in  CEuvres  postbumes  de  Frederic  II,  Roi  de  Prusse,  12  tomes, 
Berlin  (1788),  published  when  Heeren  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age. 

'  Historical  Treatises,  420-2. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  6i 

ourselves  against  losing  all  sense  of  perspective  when  we  are 
concentrating  attention  on  the  bearing  of  one  political  system 
on  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy. 

William  III  was  his  own  Foreign  and  War  Minister.  That 
was  the  condition  of  his  action.^  It  is  also,  in  large  part,  the 
explanation  of  his  success.  He  would  not  be  a  mere  Doge  of 
Venice.  No  more  bitter  anxiety  of  mind  fell  on  Marlborough 
in  the  conduct  of  war  than  that  which  came  to  him  from 
uncertainty  of  the  course  of  party  politics  at  home  ;  and  it  was 
the  most  continuously  depressing  of  all  his  anxieties.  With 
the  accession  of  George  I  the  constitution  became  still  more 
parliamentary  and  still  more  dependent  upon  party  and  a  party 
ministry.  But,  with  the  bearings  of  a  parliamentary  constitu- 
tion better  understood  through  an  accumulating  and  diversified 
experience,  criticism  of  its  working  and  effects  becomes  more 
direct ;  misgivings  assert  themselves.  Yet,  the  ministerial 
changes  and  uncertainties  of  the  reigns  of  George  I  and 
George  II  were  changes  and  uncertainties  within  one  party, 
and  were  not  primarily  due  to  the  criticisms  and  the  policy 
of  the  Tories.  Within  a  year  of  the  accession  of  the  new 
House  we  find  the  French  Government  instructing  its  repre- 
sentatives abroad  to  observe  that  one  of  the  grounds  for  the 
failure  of  Stanhope's  mission  to  the  Emperor  was  the  Emperor's 
recognition  that  little  reliance  could  be  placed  on  a  Govern- 
ment subject  to  changes  so  frequent  ^  as  there  had  lately 
been  in  Britain.     An  additional  element  of  uncertainty  was 

^  See  Miss  H.  C.  Foxcroft,  Life  and  Letters  of  George  Savile,  Marquis  of 
Halifax  (1898),  ii.  137,  for  William's  plea  of  urgency  of  supplies  and  for 
unity,  in  the  King's  Speech,  October  1690,  and  Halifax's  inquiry,  in  his 
Notes  for  a  Speech,  '  Of  what  use  are  Parliaments  if,  when  there  is  war, 
everything  that  is  asked  is  to  be  given  f  ' 

^  '  Connolssant  le  peu  de  solidite  des  mesures  qu'Il  prendroit  avec  un 
gouvemement  sujet  a  des  changements  si  frequents.* — Instruction,  17  mars 
1 71 5,  a  M.  Mandat,  allant  k  Vienne  :  Instructions  . .  .:  Autriche,  pp.  186-7. 


62  Diplomacy  and  the 

presented  by  the  character   of   the    personal  union  between 
Great  Britain  and  Hanover.     The  Elector  of  Hanover  per- 
sisted in  the  exercise  of  his  right  to  treat  with  foreign  Powers 
regarding  Hanover  as  Elector  merely,  without  having  to  submit 
to  the  galling  restraints  imposed  upon  the  British  sovereign  in 
the  conduct  of  the  foreign  policy  of  Britain.^    The  confusion 
of  issues  that  followed  was  hardly  avoidable.     But  it  was  the 
manner  of  conducting  the  policy  of  Hanover  that   almost 
equally  with  the  substance  of  that  policy  led  to  opposition 
and   to  outspoken  resentment  in  Parliament.^     It  was   the 
means  adopted  as  well  as  the  ends  pursued  that  inspired  the 
critics  of  the  Hanover  policy.     The  true  inwardness  of  that 
policy,  and  the  way  in  which  it  could  be  related  to  the  further- 
ance of  the  interests   of   Britain,   were  grasped,   in   varying 
degrees  and  in  changing  situations,  by  Stanhope,  by  Carteret 
and,  after  his  years  of  waywardness  and  irresponsibility,  by 
the  elder  Pitt ;  and  they  did  not  vastly  differ  in  the  view  they 
took  of  the  use  that  was  to  be  made  of  the  rights  of  the 
executive  in  carrying  out  the  policy.     It  was  necessary  to 
reckon  with  Parliament,  and  with  a  Parliament  that  was  moved 
by  home  politics  more  than  by  foreign,  except  at  a  national 
crisis,  and  that  was  influenced  by  great  family  connexions 
and  by  the  barter  of  patronage  for  power.    For  this  Carteret, 
unlike  Walpole  and  the  Pelhams,  was  too  proud,  too  briUiantly 
independent,    to    make    the    due    allowance    that    discretion 
demanded  ;    and  he  fell  before  those  who  were  his  inferiors 
in  knowledge  and  capacity.    It  was  necessary  for  ministers  to 
win  over  Parliament,  to  manage  it  and  even  coerce  it.    It  was 
expedient,  under  the  imperious  conditions  of  the  parUamentary 

*  See  Ward  (A.  W.),  Great  Britain  and  Hanover :    some  Aspects  oj  the 
Personal  Union  (1899). 

*  For  a  concise  statement  see  the  Lords'  Protests,  February  17,  1725; 
cf.  Protest  of  April  17, 1730. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  63 

system  of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  attend  to  the  making  of 
bishops  and  of  revenue  officers  not  less  than  to  the  fulfilling 
of  the  boast  of  Carteret — the  making  of  kings  and  emperors 
and  maintaining  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe.  But  it  was 
equally  necessary  for  ministers  of  the  Crown  to  assert  a  right 
to  initiative  and  to  a  considerable  measure  of  discretionary 
authority  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs. 

Addison,  writing  in  The  Freeholder'^  of  the  mutability  in 
politics  charged  by  foreigners  against  the  English,^  tells  how  the 
famous  Prince  of  Conde  would  ask  the  English  Ambassador,  on 
the  arrival  of  a  mail,  '  Who  was  Secretary  of  State  in  England 
by  that  post  ? '  One  of  the  chief  arguments  advanced  for  the 
passing  of  the  Septennial  Bill  was  the  greater  trust  that  foreign 
States  would  repose  in  this  country  if  general  elections  and 
changes  of  ministers  were  less  frequent.  Just  a  little  later,  at 
the  time  of  the  Whig  Schism,  we  find  Lord  Stair,  Ambassador 
to  France,  invoking  a  plague  on  both  parties,  and  especially 
on  Whig  factions.  In  his  own  words,  in  a  letter  to  Craggs,^ 
who  within  a  few  months  was  made  Secretary  of  War,  '  I  look 
upon  what  has  happened,  as  the  most  dangerous  thing  could 
befall  us,  both  as  to  the  matter,  and  as  to  the  manner.  What 
the  devil  did  Lord  Sunderland  and  Stanhope  mean,  to  make 
such  a  step  *  without  concerting  it  ?  ...  I  am  afraid  these 

^  No.  25.    Cf.  Nos.  37  and  54. 

^  Cf.  Milton  :  '  I  know  not,  therefore,  what  should  be  peculiar  in 
England,  to  make  successive  parliaments  thought  safest,  or  convenient 
here  more  than  in  other  nations,  unless  it  be  the  fickleness  which  is  attributed 
to  us  as  we  are  islanders.' — The  Ready  and  Easy  Way  to  Establish  a  Free 
Commonwealth :  English  Prose  Writings  oj  John  Milton^  ed.  by  Henry 
Morley  (1889),  434. 

^  Hardwicke,  State  Papers  (1778),  ii.  556,  January  4,  171 7. 

*  The  removal  of  Townshend  from  the  Secretaryship  of  State  for  the 
Northern  Department.  Walpole  also  retired  from  office.  Both  were  opposed 
to  the  Hanoverian  junta. 


64  Diplomacy  and  the 

convulsions  at  home  may  hurt  our  affairs  abroad.'  *  Head, 
and  hearts,  and  hands  '  there  must  be.  Surely  there  was 
a  sound  common  platform  on  which  leading  men  of  the  party 
could  stand  together  :  *  half  a  dozen  of  good  men  would  go 
far  ;  but  they  must  be  men  indeed  '.  Only  essentials  of 
conformity  should  be  exacted  as  a  test.^ 

And  so  we  might  by  illustration  proceed.  We  might  show, 
on  the  one  side,  how  Carteret  in  the  conduct  of  his  diplomacy, 
whatever  in  substance  and  objects  be  its  merits,  was  obstructed 
by  the  intrigues  and  jealousies  of  the  Pelhams  in  the  ministry,* 
and,  on  the  other  side,  the  great  and  brilliant  results  achieved 

'  The  standard  for  co-operation  and  solidarity  among  ministers  is  very 
prudently  conceived  by  Stanhope  and  in  a  way  that  furnishes  an  instructive 
comment  on  the  means — some  of  them  drastic — soon  to  be  employed  by 
Walpole  for  establishing  his  ascendancy  as  First  Minister.  '  And  I  agree 
with  you,  likewise,  that  in  public  affairs,  when  a  measure  is  taken  that 
a  man  does  not  approve  of  in  his  judgment,  if  it  be  only  a  matter  of 
policy  and  not  against  the  direct  interest  of  one's  country,  I  think  one 
should  support  the  measure  when  once  it  is  resolved,  as  if  it  was  their  own, 
and  as  if  they  had  advised  it  .  .  . :  in  taking  public  measures,  I  think  the 
wisest  and  most  moderate  men's  opinions  should  be  asked  and  followed. 
For  if  rash  councils  are  followed,  you  will  not  find  hands  to  support  them. 
By  attempting  things,  even  right  things,  which  you  are  not  able  to  carry, 
you  expose  yourself,  in  our  popular  government,  to  the  having  the  adminis- 
tration wrested  out  of  your  hands,  and  put  into  other  hands  ;  may  be, 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  our  constitution.  .  .  .  But  if  heat  and 
impatience  will  make  you  go  out  of  the  entrenchments,  and  attack  a  formid- 
able enemy  with  feeble  forces,  and  troops  that  follow  you  unwillingly,  you 
will  run  a  risk  to  be  beat,  and  you  wont  get  people  to  go  along  with  you 
to  purpose,  by  reproaching  them  that  they  are  of  this  cabal,  or  of  the  other 
cabal,  or  by  reproaching  them  that  they  are  afraid.' — Letter,  October  5, 
1 71 7,  to  Craggs.    Hardwicke,  op.  cit.,  ii.  559-60. 

'  In  the  Newcastle  Papers,  Brit.  Mus.,  Add.  MSS.,  see  especially  the 
letters  of  Richmond  (with  George  II  on  the  Continent)  to  Newcastle, 
June  3/14,  I743>  and  of  Newcastle  to  Carteret  (on  the  Continent),  June  24, 
1743,  and  July  5,  1743. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  65 

under  the  elder  Pitt  when  party  was  forgotten,  and  the 
Council,  in  the  words  of  the  aged  Carteret,  Lord  Granville, 
was  a  happy  conciliabulum.  Or,  again,  we  might  show  why 
precisely  it  came  that  Frederick  II  of  Prussia  ^  conceived  his 
deep  distrust  of  the  English  constitution  for  its  influence  on 
the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs,  and  '  abused  Parliaments ' — 
sentiments  which  were  entertained  also,  in  different  degrees  of 
bitterness  and  contempt,  by  Catherine  II,  by  Kaunitz,  and 
others. 2  The  composition  and  the  cohesion  of  parties  in 
Britain,  the  cohesion  and  security  of  ministries,  seemed  to 
depend  upon  temporary  and  changing  circumstances  of  a 
domestic  character.  Could  anything  be  taken  for  certain  in 
dealings  with  a  State  whose  politics  were  thus  founded,  and 
thus  displayed  to  foreign  observers  ?  Such  assertions  and 
charges,  even  when  they  were  not  justified,  or  were  but 
little  sustainable,  from  facts,  had  a  diplomatic  use  :  they  could 
be  made  to  serve  a  diplomatic  end,  immediate  or  ulterior. 

While  foreign  princes  and  foreign  ministers,  as  well  as  some 
ministers  and  critics  at  home,  were  thus  passing  adverse  judge- 
ment on  the  British  constitution  for  its  imperfections  and 
excesses  caused  by  the  parliamentary  system,  leaders  of  the 
Opposition  were  demanding  the  production  of  dispatches, 
papers,  and  reports  which  the  Government  was  withholding  on 
the  plea  of  State  necessity.  Of  many  complaints  the  two 
following  are  typical.  They  are  taken  from  the  Lords'  Pro- 
tests :  they  are  drawn  from  the  armoury  of  the  Opposition 
to  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  In  the  first  ^  it  was  contended,  with 
reference  to  the  trading  interests  of  the  British  colonies  and 

^  '  The  King  of  Prussia,  who  never  loses  time.' — Andrew  Mitchell  (from 
Leipzig),  October  30,  1757,  to  Holdemesse.    P.R.O.,  Prussia,  70.    . 

2  Sorel,  La  Question  d' Orient  au  XVIIl^  siecle  (1880),  pp.  83,  84,  85  of 
the  English  translation. 

^  March  26,  1734. 

2224  c 


66  Diplomacy  and  the 

plantations  in  America,  that  treaties  alone  would  not  bind 
those  Powers  which  might  seem  to  have  advantages  in  prospect 
from  opportune  aggression,  and  that  '  the  interposition  of 
a  British  Parliament  would  be  more  respected  and  more 
effectual  than  the  occasional  expedients  of  fluctuating  and 
variable  negotiations,  which  in  former  times  have  been  often 
more  adapted  to  the  present  necessities  of  the  ministers  than 
to  the  real  honour  and  lasting  security  of  the  nation '.  The 
second  Protest  ^  was  framed  on  the  rejection  of  a  motion  that 
a  secret  committee,  consisting  of  those  Peers  who  were  Privy 
Councillors,  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the 
war  against  Spain  towards  the  close  of  Walpole's  ministry. 
'  The  so-often  urged  argument  of  secrecy ',  which  in  another 
Protest  of  the  same  times  ^  was  termed  '  the  stale  objection  ', 
is  an  argument,  it  was  said,  that  '  proves  too  much,  and  may 
as  often  without  as  with  reason  be  used  in  bar  of  all  inquiries, 
that  any  Administration,  conscious  either  of  their  guilt  or 
their  ignorance,  may  desire  to  defeat '.  Secrecy  of  this 
*  timorous '  and  *  scrupulous '  kind  was  '  much  of tener  the 
refuge  of  guilt  than  the  resort  of  innocence  '.  The  case  for 
inquiry  and  for  openness  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy  was 
ably  presented  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Wyndham  in  the 
session  1733-4,  when  the  Polish  Succession— or  Election — 
War  was  in  progress.  A  motion  that  the  letters  and  instruc- 
tions to  British  ministers  in  France  and  Spain  be  produced 
was  rejected  by  195  votes  to  104.  Wyndham  argued  that 
Parliament,  if  denied  such  knowledge,  could  not  sustain  its 
part  in  upholding  the  interests  of  the  nation  abroad,  and 
could  not  comprehend  the  extent  of  the  interests  of  Britain 
in  the  war  which  was  at  that  time  being  fought  on  the  Con- 
tinent without  her.  Even  if  we  were  to  take  no  part  in  the 
war,  it  was  necessary'  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  nation  ; 
*  January  28,  1740/1,  *  P^cember  8,  1740. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  67 

and  the  grounds  for  making  adequate  provision  were  not 
disclosed.  How  (he  asked)  could  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  judge  of  the  estimates  to  be  laid  before  them  as 
a  provision  for  national  safety,  if  they  did  not  know  by  what 
danger  the  nation  was  confronted  ?  How,  further,  could  we 
know  our  danger  without  knowing  how  we  then  stood  with 
regard  to  foreign  alliances  and  engagements  ? 

The  case  for  the  Government  in  these  and  like  transactions 
was  moderately  and  clearly  put  by  Henry  Pelham  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  His  ministry  was  criticized  for  not  having  laid 
the  preliminaries  of  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  before 
Parliament,  so  that  its  opinion  might  be  taken  beforehand,  as 
had  been  done  on  the  occasion  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht. 
Pelham,  in  his  defence,  disclaimed  any  intention  to  limit  in 
any  degree  the  right  of  Parliament  to  examine  and  criticize 
any  treaty  after  it  was  concluded,  and  to  censure  and  punish 
those  who  advised  and  negotiated  the  treaty  if  it  should  seem 
to  have  wantonly  or  unnecessarily  sacrificed  the  interests  or 
the  honour  of  the  nation.  Such  a  right  on  the  part  of  Par- 
liament was  to  be  upheld  as  a  salutary  check  on  the  conduct 
of  ministers.  But,  '  if  Parliament  should  encroach  upon  the 
prerogative  of  the  Crown,  by  assuming  a  right  to  make  peace 
or  war,  and  to  inquire  into  foreign  transactions  under  negotia- 
tion, our  affairs  will  be  reduced  to  a  dangerous  predicament ; 
for  no  foreign  State  will  negotiate  with  our  ministers,  or  con- 
clude any  treaty  with  them,  either  political  or  commercial.'^ 
These  considerations  of  national  advantage  similarly  required 
that  Parliament  should  not  assume  a  constitutional  right  to 
prescribe  rules  to  the  Crown  for  its  conduct  in  any  future 
negotiation  or  treaty.  Advice  either  House  is  competent  to 
offer  ;    but,  if  the  advice  be  coupled  with  the  condition  that 

^  Coxe,  Memoirs  of  the  Administration  of  the  Right  Honourable  Henry 
Pelham  (1829),  ii,  87. 

F2 


68  Diplomacy  and  the 

in  no  case  can  it  be  departed  from  without  the  consent  of  the 
House,  it  ceases  to  be  advice  :  it  becomes  a  rule  or  law,  which 
Parliament  has  no  right  to  prescribe  to  the  Sovereign,  and 
which  no  minister,  faithful  to  his  position  and  its  obligations, 
could  advise  him  to  accept  as  a  rule  or  law.^  For  ministers  to 
seek  the  approval  of  Parliament — it  might  be  a  tame  and 
controlled  and  submissive  Parliament — ^in  the  course  of  nego- 
tiations and  in  the  acceptance  of  the  preliminaries  of  a  treaty, 
might  reveal  that  they  were  conscious  of  failure  to  secure  the 
interests  of  the  nation,  rather  than  that  they  were  moving 
towards  an  indubitable  success  such  as  could  never  fear  the 
light  of  criticism  in  days  to  come. 

But  it  was  more  especially  vrith  the  establishment  of  a  more 
democratically  based  constitution  in  the  nineteenth  century 
that  criticisms  of  the  parliamentary  system  of  Britain,  in 
relation  to  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy,  became  sharp  and 
severe.  Under  a  parliamentary  party  system,  resting  on  the 
ultimate  power  which  is  vested  in  a  wide  and  inconstant 
electorate,  it  has  been  only  with  the  utmost  care  and  difficulty 
that  the  principle  of  continuity  in  foreign  policy  has  been,  in 
general,  successfully  asserted  in  Britain  ;  and,  with  continuity, 
has  come  the  gain  of  a  large  measure  of  trustworthiness  in  the 
eyes  of  foreign  States.  The  presumption  in  a  system  that  rests 
on  parties  and  majorities  is  in  favour  of  change  and  towards  in- 
stability.2  Bismarck,  pre-eminently  on  this  account,  distrusted 
the  foreign  policy  of  Britain  and   the  making  of  compacts 

*  Coxe,  loc.  cit. 

'  We  are  not  here  engaged  upon  a  comparative  study  of  political  delin- 
quency. Cf.  the  words  of  Napoleon  III  when  he  was  expressing  to  Malmes- 
bury  his  desire  to  be  inseparable  from  England  :  '  The  great  difficulty 
is  your  form  of  Government,  which  changes  the  Queen's  Ministers  so  often 
and  so  suddenly.  It  is  such  a  risk  to  adopt  a  line  of  policy  with  you,  as  one 
may  be  left  in  the  lurch  by  a  new  Administration.' — Memoirs^  under  date 
March  20,  1 853. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  69 

with  her.  He  spoke  with  contempt  of  newspapers  having 
more  force  than  was  commanded  by  settled  principles  of 
policy,  and  of  ruling  by  the  mere  opinions  of  the  day.  Since 
the  Reform  Bill  of  1832,  he  said  in  1859,  it  had  been  impossible 
for  the  old  hereditary  wisdom  to  discipline  the  uncurbed 
passions  of  party,  and  he  could  not  place  confidence  in  a  country 
in  which  an  article  in  a  newspaper  was  of  more  value  than 
a  principle.  *  Good  Heavens  ! '  he  continued,  *  if  that  lot 
should  befal  the  Prussian  monarchy — if  she  also  should  have 
her  Reform  Bill — ^if  the  power  were  to  be  taken  from  the 
sacred  hands  of  the  King  only  to  fall  into  those  of  the  lawyers 
and  the  professors  and  the  babblers  who  style  themselves 
Liberals ! '  The  Danes  do  not  forget  the  expectations,  with 
a  semblance  of  promises,  by  which  they  were  deluded  on  the 
Schleswdg-Holstein  question  through  British  newspapers  and 
British  party  politicians ;  and  Bismarck  expressed  the  view 
that  the  Schles wig-Hols tein  diplomatic  campaign  was  the 
success  in  diplomacy  of  which  he  felt  most  proud,  so  that  when 
he  was  made  Prince  he  would  rather  have  had  Schleswig- 
Holstein  than  Alsace  and  Lorraine  put  into  his  armorial 
bearings.!  If,  again,  we  turn  to  Lord  Lyons  at  the  anxious 
time  of  excitement  over  the  '  Trent '  affair,  we  shall  commend 
him  for  ignoring  popular  clamour  whether  in  the  United  States 
of  America  or  in  Britain,  and  for  dehberately  and  resolutely 
abstaining  for  six  weeks  from  uttering  any  opinion  of  his  own , 
and  by  such  prudent  reticence  going  far  to  save  the  situation.^ 
A  wise  diplomacy  must  know  how  to  delay  decisions  as  well  as 
how  to  anticipate  ;  there  have  been  critical  times  when  it 
showed  its  wisdom  by  knowing  how  to  put  off  till  to-morrow 
what  could  not  be  safely  done  to-day,  and  when  it  not  the 
less  truly  interpreted  the  public  interest  by  opposing  a  barrier 

^  Busch,  Bismarck,  ii.  337. 

*  See  Newton,  Lord  Lyons,  2  vols.  (i9i3)< 


70  Diplomacy  and  the 

to  the  demands  of  a  clamorous  public  opinion — of  a  *  will 
of  all '  that  may  not  have  known  the  true  *  general  will '. 
*  If  I  could  from  this  place  address  the  English  people  ',  said 
Lord  Derby  in  1878,  '  I  would  venture  to  ask  them  how  they 
can  expect  to  have  a  foreign  poUcy,  I  do  not  say  far-sighted, 
but  even  consistent  and  intelligent,  if  within  eighteen  months 
the  great  majority  of  them  are  found  asking  for  things  directly 
contradictory '.  ^  The  measuring  of  public  opinion  is  for  the 
statesman  as  hard  a  task  as  its  instruction.  Even  to  public 
opinion,  when  voiced  by  representatives,  and  in  its  action  not 
immediate  and  not  impulsive,  there  are  limits  of  competence, 
bounds  imposed  by  discretion.  We  should  not  forget  that  in 
1890,  in  the  course  of  discussions  on  the  proposed  cession  of 
Heligoland  to  Germany,  Mr.  Gladstone  questioned  both  the 
constitutionality  and  the  high  expediency  of  asking  the  Houses 
of  Parliament  to  share  the  treaty-making  power — z  power  exer- 
cised by  ministers  who  are  well  aware  of  their  responsibility  to 
Parliament  and  to  the  nation.^  And  who  shall  yet  say  how  far 
diplomacy  in  the  decisive  week  at  the  end  of  July  1914  had 
to  reckon  with  a  consideration  that  should  have  been  out  of 
the  reckoning  altogether — ^the  limits  to  party  cohesion  and 
party  allegiance  where  the  interest  and  the  honour  of  the 
whole  British  Commonwealth  were  at  stake  ? 

The  lessons  of  example  and  the  force  of  historical  evidence 
are  not  wholly  cast  in  one  mould.  But  the  very  nature  of  the 
problems  should  preclude,  in  the  modern  State,  anything 
like  direct  participation  of  a  vast  number  of  minds  and  tongues 
in  the  initiation,  the  conduct,  and  the  control  of  foreign 
policy ;  not  least  in  Great  Britain.  A  plainer  foreign  policy 
than  there  has  usually  been  may  be  possible.'    But  that  any 

^  Speech  in  the  House  of  Lords,  April  8,  1878. 

*  See  Appendix,  pp.  2100-3. 

'  General  Smuts  on  May  15,  191 7 — about  a  month  before  he  became 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  71 

large  number  of  men  should  ever  be  qualified,  or  that  they 
should  even  seek,  with  good  results,  to  qualify  themselves,  for 
the  exercise  of  an  initiative  that  shall  be  wise,  and  for  a  control 
that  shall  be  well  informed,  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs, 
where  the  conditions  are  of  necessity  complex  and  the  issues 
involved  are  momentous,  no  student  of  history  and  no  honest 
mind  will  ever  admit.  Even  were  it  possible,  it  would  not  be 
desirable.  In  the  modern  State  democracy  is  and  must  be 
indirect,  not  direct  :  it  loses  impulsiveness,  and  it  gains  in 
knowledge,  in  impressiveness,  and  in  power,  through  being 

a  member  of  the  War  Cabinet  (see  p.  283) — spoke  of  the  need  for  *  a  common 
policy  in  common  matters  for  the  Empire.  .  .  .'  Further,  '  they  could  not 
settle  a  common  foreign  policy  for  the  whole  of  the  British  Empire  without 
changing  that  policy  very  much  from  what  it  had  been  in  the  past,  because 
the  policy  would  have  to  be,  for  one  thing,  far  simpler.  In  the  other  parts 
of  the  Empire  they  did  not  understand  diplomatic  j^««s^.  If  our  foreign 
policy  was  going  to  rest  not  only  on  the  basis  of  our  Cabinet  here,  but, 
hnally,  on  the  whole  of  the  British  Empire,  it  would  have  to  be  a  simpler 
policy,  a  more  intelUgible  policy,  and  a  policy  which  would  in  the  end  lead 
to  less  friction  and  greater  security.  No  one  would  dispute  the  supremacy 
of  the  Imperial  Parliament.  They  would  always  look  upon  the  British 
Government  as  the  senior  partner  in  the  concern.  But  the  Imperial  policy 
would  always  be  subject  to  the  principles  laid  down  from  time  to  time  at 
the  meetings  of  the  Imperial  Conference.  Such  a  policy  would,  he  thought, 
in  the  long  run  be  saner  and  safer  for  the  Empire  as  a  whole.  He  also 
thought  it  would  lead  to  greater  publicity.  After  the  great  catastrophe 
which  had  overtaken  Europe,  nations  in  future  would  want  to  know  more 
about  that  foreign  policy.  He  was  sure  that  the  after  effects  of  a  change 
like  this,  although  it  looked  a  simple  change,  were  going  to  be  very  important, 
not  only  for  the  Commonwealth  of  nations,  but  for  the  world  as  a  whole. 
People  were  inclined  to  forget  that  the  world  was  growing  more  democratic, 
and  that  public  opinion  and  the  forces  finding  expression  in  public  opinion, 
were  going  to  be  far  more  powerful  than  they  had  been  in  the  past.  Where 
they  built  up  a  common  patriotism  and  a  common  ideal,  the  instrument  of 
government  would  not  be  a  thing  that  mattered  so  much  as  the  spirit  which 
actuated  the  whole  of  government.'— T^e  Times,  May  16,  1917. 


72  Diplomacy  and  the 

representative  and  mediate.  Democracy  needs  checks  for 
its  own  security,  just  as  monarchy  has  needed  and  submitted 
to  checks  against  its  own  abuse.  The  power  of  a  democracy 
when  once  it  is  set  in  motion  along  any  line  may  be 
irresistible,  but  it  stands  in  need  of  guarantees  of  stability 
and  endurance. 

In  Britain,  even  more  than  in  the  American  Common- 
wealth,* adequate  provisions  exist  for  an  ultimate  and  true 
national  control  over  the  determination  of  foreign  policy. 
They  are  found  in  the  nation's  capacities  being  represented, 
and  in  their  being  raised,  in  the  process  of  representation,  to 
a  higher  level  of  efficiency.  They  are  found  formally  and 
practically,  to  the  knowledge  of  every  citizen,  in  the  command 
of  the  purse  held  by  the  House  of  Commons,  and  in  the  daily 
and  continuous  responsibility  of  ministers  to  that  House — 
the  House  of  the  nation's  chosen  representatives.  No  foreign 
policy  can  be  maintained,  and  none,  in  prudence,  can  even  be 
embarked  upon,  that  does  not  look  to  the  interests  of  the 
nation — ^interests  of  commerce  and  material  well-being,  and 
not  less  for  Britain  the  interests  of  honour  and  prestige  ;  and 
any  foreign  policy  once  embarked  upon  must  reckon  with  the 
necessity  of  making  the  general  and  substantial  title  to  such 
support  clear  and  convincing.^  That  condition  may  prove 
to  be  a  defect  in  the  execution  of  poHcy — an  opinion  wliich 
has  already  been  sufficiently  implied  and  enforced.  But 
acceptance  of  the  condition  is  required  for  the  ultimate 
sustenance  of  policy  and  for  the  assurance  of  its  strength. 
Among  political  virtues  prudence  stands  the  first  and  the  last. 
Much  will  depend — ^more  in  the  near  future  than  in  the  recent 
past — ^upon  the  prudence  of  party  leaders  and  party  men  and 

*  See  Appendix,  pp.  278-9,  281. 

*  For  views  expressed  on  this  part  of  the  subject  by  Palraerston,  Claren- 
don (1866),  Salisbury  (1885),  and  Mr.  Balfour,  see  Appendix,  pp.  263-9. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  73 

the  press,  and  upon  the  restraints  which  they  may  freely  and 
wisely  accept. 

But  diplomacy  will  still  remain.  It  will  still  be  a  means  to 
ends.  Those  who  have  to  conduct  business  between  nations 
cannot,  without  detriment  and  disaster,  violate  the  rules 
and  methods  that  are  essential  to  the  conduct  of  business  and 
to  success.^  Instruments  and  agents  may  vary  with  conditions. 
They  may  come  to  be  quite  unexceptionable  in  work  and 
character.  But  the  need  for  circumspection  is  not  likely  to 
become  less.  For  the  conduct  of  international  business,  in 
whatsoever  atmosphere  of  mind  and  morals,  men  who  under- 
stand men  and  affairs  will  still  be  required.  A  Duke  of  Albany 
as  drawn  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  son  of  the  victor  of  Flodden, 
may  still  have  a  place  and  successors,  but  his  is  not  the  place 
of  a  discreet  diplomatist. 

'  And  by  many  wayes  I  am  advertised  that  the  Duke  of  Albany 
is  a  mervelous  wilfull  man,  and  woll  beleve  noo  mannys 
counsaill,  but  woll  have  his  owne  opinion  folowed.  And 
bicause  the  Frenche  King  hath  be  at  soo  greate  chardges  by 
his  provoking,  having  his  wiffs  inherytance  lying  within  his 
domynyons,  dare  not  for  no  Scottish  counsell  forbere  t'  envade 
this  reahne.  I  am  also  advertised  that  he  is  so  passionate 
that  and  he  bee  aperte  amongis  his  familiers,  and  doth  here 
^ny  thing  contrarius  to  his  myende  and  pleasure,  his  accustumed 
manner  is  too  take  his  bonet  sodenly  of  his  hed  and  to  throwe 
it  in  the  fire  ;  and  no  man  dare  take  it  oute,  but  let  it  be 
brent.  My  Lord  Dacre  doth  affirme  that  at  his  last  being 
in  Scotland  he  did  borne  above  a  dosyn  bonetts  after  that 
maner.  And  if  he  be  suche  a  man,  with  Gods  grace  we  shall 
spede  the  bettir  with  hym.'  ^ 

Is  it  the  picture  of  an  open  diplomatist  ?  Travesty  let  it  be  : 
by  no  accession  of  the  merit  of  plainness  can  the  conduct  of 

^  See  Appendix,  p.  266:  Mr.  Balfour,  House  of  Commons,  March  19, 191 8. 
*  Surrey,  at  Newcastle,  to  Wolsey,  October  8,  1523.     Ellis,  Original 
Letters  (first  series),  i.  226-7. 


74  Diplomacy  and  the 

the  business  of  States  be  attuned  to  openness  so  markedly 
naked  and  so  frankly  unabashed.  A  Duke  of  Albany  thus  active 
and  thus  open  may  have  his  successors  yet,  whether  wc  are 
thinking  of  individual  politicians  or  of  masses  of  men.  But 
his  place  is  not  that  of  Managing  Director  of  the  Board  of 
Control  for  Foreign  Affairs.  Still,  even  to  open  diplomacy 
must  be  conceded  its  several  types,  its  several  grades. 

Those  in  Britain  who  have  lately  criticized  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  British  plan  of  conducting  foreign  policy,  on  the 
ground  of  its  disregard  of  democratic  methods  and  national 
rights,  are  neither  genuinely  democratic  nor  genuinely  national. 
They  do  not  recognize  the  nature  of  democracy  in  the  large 
and  extended  communities  of  to-day,  and  they  convey  the 
impression  that  the  foreign  policy  of  Britain  can  be,  and  has 
been,  conducted,  under  the  prevailing  forms  and  facts  of  her 
politics,  not  only  with  the  secrecy  but  even  with  the  inde- 
pendence which  characterized  the  methods  and  the  powers 
of  the  Council  of  Ten  in  the  RepubUc  of  Venice. ^  They 
protest  on  the  ground  of  '  freedom  '.  They  have  probably 
false  notions  of  freedom.  They  do  not  inquire,  as  we  should 
always  be  asking  ourselves,  and  should  inquire  of  others,  when 
that  word  is  used,  *  Freedom  ? — From  what  ?  '  '  Freedom  ? 
— For  what  ?  '  *  Freedom  ? — To  whom  ?  '  May  it  be  free- 
dom to  those  who  repudiate  a  State  obligation  at  a  time  of 
national  danger  ?  If  we  were  to  carry  farther  our  analysis  of 
this  species  of  democratic  fervour  and  of  the  movement  which 
it  inspires  and  is  designed  to  help,  we  should  find  that  many 
of  those  who  speak  and  labour  under  its  influence  cannot  take 
a  dispassionate  view  of  the  manner  and  the  instruments  of  the 
conduct  of  foreign  policy.  Many  of  them  there  are  who  have 
been  influenced  by  considerations  of  an  extraneous  kind — ^by 
an  economic  bias,  for  example,  with  the  consequences  it  seems 

*  See  Horatio  F.  Brown,  Venice :  An  Historical  Sketch  (1893),  e.g.  p.  182. 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  75 

to  entail  in  spheres  not  primarily  or  not  exclusively  economic, 
or  by  a  diffused  and  bounteous  humanitarianism  of  not  less 
insecure  foundations. 

We  must  never  forget  that  any  movement  of  this  character 
— ^and  there  are  more  than  one  in  our  midst,  and  there  are 
likely  to  be  more  still — must  proceed  with  some  approximation 
to  equal  step  and  equal  weight  in  the  several  leading  States, 
if  it  is  not  to  carry  with  it  grave  misfortune  for  that  State 
which  outruns  the  rest  in  its  trust  and  confidence  in  men  and 
humanity.  Neither  for  means  nor  for  ends  is  it  specially 
called  for  in  Britain.  For  the  means  it  advocates  it  may 
contain  elements  of  good  for  a  State — a  State,  let  us  say, 
strongly  organized  and  mechanically  efficient — ^which  does 
not  yet  know  the  parliamentary  system,  knows  not  responsi- 
bility of  ministers  to  Parliament,  knows  not  democracy.  Nor 
for  its  declared  end — a  better  and  more  stable  international 
understanding — is  any  appeal,  justifying  such  movement, 
specially  required  in  Britain.  The  highest  interest  of  Britain 
for  herself  and  for  the  Empire  has  been  known  to  be — ^was  too 
well  known  to  be — ^peace  ;  and  in  future  her  interest  will  still 
be  peace,  but  without  a  slothful  overtrust.  She  can  enter  in 
spirit  into  a  true  League  of  Nations,  even  without  requiring 
to  be  attached  to  it  by  compliance  with  prescribed  and  rigid 
forms  ;  and  no  League  of  Nations,  for  unity  and  concord, 
can  have  being  by  mechanism  chiefly  and  without  the  dis- 
position that  is  requisite  to  give  it  life. 

But  if  we  in  Britain  do  modify,  as  we  shall  and  already  have 
begun  ^  to  modify,  the  kind  of  indirect  national  control  which 
has  prevailed  with  us,  this  we  shall  do  wisely  by  imparting  to  it 
greater  breadth,  a  larger  representative  character,  a  character 
truer  to  the  facts,  a  stronger  vitaHty.  We  shall  make  it  represen- 
tative not  of  the  British  at  home  only,  but  of  the  whole  British 
^  See  Appendix,  pp.  282-4. 


76  Diplomacy  and  Foreign  Policy 

Commonwealth,  in  accordance  with  a  community  of  interest 
and  a  partnership  in  achieving.  We  should  have  the  assurance 
that  this  more  representative  direction  and  control  of  foreign 
policy  by  a  Council  of  the  Empire  would  express  the  mind  of 
a  Commonwealth  of  peoples,  and  would  be  the  informed  check 
of  mind  upon  mind.  It  would  help  to  promote  the  collective 
responsibility  of  all  civilized  nations  in  upholding  International 
Law  and  developing  and  safeguarding  international  morality. 
This  it  would  do  without  relaxing  its  grip  on  the  solid  truth 
that  there  is  only  one  effective  way  of  resisting  wrong  done  by 
force,  or  of  warding  off  wrong  threatened  by  force  :  there 
must  be  the  means,  and  there  must  be  readiness,  to  exert 
force  on  the  side  of  right  and  justice. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES 

A.    ANTI-MACHIAVEL  LITERATURE 

There  is  an  abundant  anti-Machiavel  literature  from  an  early  date  :  see, 
in  Burd's  edition  (1891)  of  //  Principe,  the  Introduction  by  Acton  and  by 
the  editor.  In  Catnpanella's  De  Monarcbia  Hispanica  (c.  5)  sharp  antitheses 
are  drawn  between  prudentia  and  astutia.  £.  g.  '  Prudentia  clemens  est, 
ct  verax :  Astutia  crudelis,  et  adulatrix.  .  .  .  Prudentia  dum  perdit, 
acquirit  (id  quod  Petrus,  et  Papa  adhuc  hodie  facit),  et  quanto  penitius 
cognoscitur  tanto  ardentius  a  suis  amatur.  Astutia  dum  acquirit,  perdit ; 
et  quanto  magis  nota  est,  tanto  magis  odio  habetur.  Sicut  vidcrc  est  in 
scelesti  illius  Machiavelli  discipulo  Caesarc  Borgia,  qui  per  astutias  suas 
principatum  Flaminiac  (hodie  Romaniae)  perdidit.' — De  Mon.  Hisp., 
ed.  1 64 1,  24-5.  More  significant  are  the  favourable,  or  not  adverse,  in- 
terpreters of  Machiavelli.  To  Alberico  Gentili,  De  legationibus  libri  ires 
(1585),  iii.  9,  quoted  by  Burd,  op.  cit.  63,  Machiavelli  is  '  Democratiac 
laudator  et  assertor  acerrimus  ;  natus,  educatus,  honoratus,  in  eo  reipublicac 
statu  ;  tyrannidis  summe  inimicus.  Itaque  tyranno  non  favet :  sui  propositi 
noQ  est,  tyrannum  instruere,  sed  arcanis  eius  palam  factis  ipsum  miseris 


Anti-Machiavel  Literature  77 

popuHs  nudum  et  consplcuum  exhibere.'  Similarly,  Spinoza,  Tractatus 
Politicus,  c.  V,  §  7 :  '  Quibus  autem  mediis  Princeps,  qui  sola  dominandi 
libidine  fertur,  uti  debet,  ut  imperium  stabilire  et  conservare  possit,  acutissi- 
mus  Machiavellus  prolixe  ostendit ;  quem  autem  in  finem,  non  satis  constare 
videtur.  Si  quem  tamen  bonum  habuit,  ut  de  viro  sapiente  credendum 
est,  fuisse  videtur,  ut  ostenderet,  quam  imprudenter  multi  Tyrannum 
e  medio  tollere  conantur.  .  .  .  Praeterea  ostendere  forsan  voluit,  quantum 
libera  multitudo  cavere  debet,  ne  salutem  suam  uni  absolute  credat,  qui 
nisi  vanus  sit,  et  omnibus  se  posse  placere  existimet,  quotidie  insidias  timere 
debet ;  atque  adeo  sibi  potius  cavere,  et  multitudini  contra  insidiari  magis 
quam  consulere  cogitur  ;  et  ad  hoc  de  prudentissimo  isto  viro  credendum 
magis  adducor,  quia  pro  libertate  fuisse  constat,  ad  quam  etiam  tuendam 
saluberrima  consilia  dedit.'  Amelot  de  la  Houssaie  in  his  translation  and 
commentary,  Le  Prince  (1683),  wrote  :  'II  ne  faut  pas  s'etonner,  si  Machiavel 
est  censure  de  tant  de  gens,  puisqu'il  y  en  a  si  peu,  qui  sachent  ce  que  c'est 
que  Raison-d' Etat,  et  par  consequent  si  peu,  qui  puissent  etre  juges  com- 
petens  de  la  qualite  des  preceptes  qu'il  donne,  et  des  maximes  qu'il  enseigne,' 
p.  5  ;  see  further  his  Preface,  partly  quoted  by  Burd,  65-6.  Amelot's  notes 
are  largely  made  up  of  passages  from  Tacitus, '  le  Maitre  et  I'Oracle  ordinaire 
des  Princes'.  '  En  feignant  de  donner  des  lemons  aux  rois  ',  says  Rousseau 
of  Machiavelli,  '  il  en  a  donne  de  grandes  aux  peuples.  "  Le  Prince  "  de 
Machiavel  est  le  livre  des  republicains.'— Contra/  Social,  iii,  c.  6.  For 
Rousseau's  views  on  the  sway  of  '  interest '  and  of  '  Reason  of  State  '  in 
international  affairs,  see  Considerations  sur  le  Gouvernement  de  Pologne, 
c.  15.  According  to  Hegel,  it  was  Machiavelli's  high  sense  of  the  necessity 
of  constituting  a  State  that  caused  him  to  lay  down  the  principles  on  which 
alone  States  could  be  formed  in  the  circumstances  of  his  time. 


B.    MACHIAVELLI   ON   THE   OFFICE  OF   AN 
AMBASSADOR 

Machiavelli,  himself  an  experienced  ambassador  and  negotiator  of  treaties, 
shows  his  conception  of  the  qualities  requisite  for  a  successful  embassy  in  the 
instructions  given  by  him  to  Raphael  Girolami,  Ambassador  to  the  Emperor. 
It  is  necessary,  he  held,  for  an  ambassador  so  to  regulate  his  actions  and 
conversation  that  he  shall  be  thought  a  man  of  honour.  A  reputation  for 
sincerity  is  '  highly  essential,  though  too  much  neglected,  as  1  have  seen 
more  than  one  so  lose  themselves  in  the  opinion  of  princes  by  their  duplicity, 
that  they  have  been  unable  to  conduct  a  negotiation  of  the  most  trifling 
importance.    It  is  undoubtedly  necessary  for  the  ambassador  occasionally 


78  Diplomacy  and  Foreign  Policy 

to  mask  his  game  ;  but  it  should  so  be  done  that  suspicion  shall  not  be 
awakened,  and  he  ought  always  to  be  prepared  with  an  answer  in  case 
of  discovery.'  The  correspondence  of  an  ambassador  with  his  own  Govern- 
ment has  regard  to  three  objects — what  is  done,  what  is  being  done,  and 
what  may  be  done.  The  first  alone  is  easy,  although  it  may  be  difficult  to 
obtain  the  requisite  intelligence  concerning  a  league  between  two  Powers 
against  a  third,  where  it  is  to  the  interest  of  one  of  them  to  preserve  secrecy, 
80  that  great  prudence  and  circumspection  are  in  such  cases  called  for. 
The  difficulty  of  knowing  what  is  passing  is  of  a  different  category,  because 
in  place  of  facts  as  data  there  are  merely  conjectures.  '  Besides,  the  courts 
of  princes  are  full  of  men  whose  sole  occupation  is  to  listen  to  everything,  and 
to  repeat  what  they  have  heard,  as  well  to  make  friends  of  those  to  whom 
they  communicate  the  intelligence,  as  to  learn  something  from  them  which 
they  may  turn  to  their  profit.  The  friendship  of  this  class  of  men  may  be 
gained  by  talking  of  such  things  as  dinners  and  gaming ;  and  I  have  seen 
very  grave  personages  permit  gaming  at  their  houses,  to  afford  the  opportu- 
nity of  seeing  many  persons  whom  it  would  otherwise  have  been  difficult  to 
meet  in  any  place  so  as  to  converse  with  them.  But,  to  extract  any  informa- 
tion from  a  man,  you  must  occasionally  encourage  him  by  reposing  a  confi- 
dence in  him,  which  he  may  think  important.  In  a  word,  nothing  is  more 
likely  to  make  others  disclose  what  they  know  than  to  appear  to  set  the 
example.  But,  in  order  to  do  this,  an  ambassador  ought  to  be  informed  of 
all  that  passes  at  his  own  Court  and  elsewhere.  .  .  .  Amongst  the  matters 
of  which  you  will  hear,  there  will  undoubtedly  be  many  entirely  false,  as 
well  as  some  that  are  true,  or  probable.  It  is  your  duty  to  weigh  them  with 
judgement,  and  inform  your  Court  of  those  which  you  think  have  some 
foundation,  and  merit  its  attention  ;  and,  as  it  would  not  be  eligible  to 
place  your  judgement  in  your  own  lips,  I  would  recommend  you  to  adopt 
the  form  of  dispatches  that  several  ministers  have  used  with  effect.  It 
consists  in  an  expose  of  the  facts  that  have  come  to  your  knowledge,  sketching 
the  characters  of  the  parties,  and  the  interests  which  direct  them,  and 
concluding  in  this  manner  :  "  taking  into  consideration  all  I  have  said,  the 
most  judicious  persons  here  think  that  such  and  such  will  be  the  result."  .  .  . 
I  know  also  some  who,  every  month  or  two,  were  at  the  pains  to  give  their 
Courts  a  picture  of  the  general  situation  of  the  State  or  city  where  the  prince 
resided  to  whom  they  were  sent  .  .  . ;  for  nothing  is  so  well  calculated  to 
enlighten  a  Government  as  a  knowledge  of  the  resources  of  other  States.' 


The  Balance  of  Power  79 


C.   THE  BALANCE   OF  POWER 

'  Europe  forms  a  political  system,  an  integral  body,  closely  connected  by 
the  relations  and  different  interests  of  the  nations  inhabiting  this  part  of  the 
world.  It  is  not,  as  formerly,  a  confused  heap  of  detached  pieces.  .  .  .  The 
continual  attention  of  sovereigns  to  every  occurrence,  the  constant  residence 
of  ministers,  and  the  perpetual  negotiations,  make  of  modern  Europe  a  kind 
of  republic,  of  which  the  members — each  independent,  but  all  linked  together 
by  the  ties  of  common  interest— unite  for  the  maintenance  of  order  and 
liberty.  Hence  arose  that  famous  scheme  of  the  political  balance,  or  the 
equilibrium  of  power ;  by  which  is  understood  such  a  disposition  of  things, 
as  that  no  one  potentate  be  able  absolutely  to  predominate,  and  prescribe 
laws  to  the  others.  The  surest  means  of  preserving  that  equilibrium  would  be, 
that  no  power  should  be  much  superior  to  the  others,  that  all,  or  at  least 
the  greater  part,  should  be  nearly  equal  in  force.  Such  a  project  has  been 
attributed  to  Henry  IV  ;  but  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  carry  it  into 
execution  without  injustice  and  violence.  Besides  .  .  .  commerce,  industry, 
military  pre-eminence,  would  soon  put  an  end  to  it.  The  right  of  inheritance 
.  .  .  would  completely  overturn  the  whole  system.  It  is  a  more  simple,  an 
easier,  and  a  more  equitable  plan,  to  have  recourse  to  the  method  ...  of 
forming  confederacies  in  order  to  oppose  the  more  powerful  potentate, 
and  prevent  him  from  giving  law  to  his  neighbours.  Such  is  the  mode  at 
present  pursued  by  the  sovereigns  of  Europe.  They  consider  the  two 
principal  powers,  which  on  that  very  account,  are  naturally  rivals,  as  destined 
to  be  checks  on  each  other ;  and  they  unite  with  the  weaker,  like  so  many 
weights  thrown  into  the  lighter  scale,  in  order  to  keep  it  in  equilibrium  with 
the  other.  The  house  of  Austria  has  long  been  the  preponderating  power  : 
at  present  France  is  so  in  her  turn.  England,  whose  opulence  and  formidable 
fleets  have  a  powerful  influence,  without  alarming  any  state  on  the  score  of 
its  liberty,  because  that  nation  seems  cured  of  the  rage  of  conquest—England, 
I  say,  has  the  glory  of  holding  the  political  balance.  She  is  attentive  to 
preserve  it  in  equilibrium  : — a  system  of  policy,  which  is  in  itself  highly 
just  and  wise,  and  will  ever  entitle  her  to  praise,  as  long  as  she  continues 
to  pursue  it  only  by  means  of  alliances,  confederacies,  and  other  methods 
equally  lawful.' — Vattel,  Law  of  Nations  (1758),  Eng.  tr.  ed.  by  Chitty 
(1834),  311-13.  'Would  the  Right  Honourable  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  [Pitt]  himself  declare,  that  we  were  no  longer  in  a  situation 
to  hold  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  and  to  be  looked  up  to  as  the 
protector  of  its  liberties  ?  ...  As  to  the  assertion  that  a  poor  cottager  was 
not  to  be  talked  to  in  that  manner,  he  must  maintain  that  he  was  5    and 


8o  Diplomacy  and  Foreign  Policy 

notwithstanding  the  pressure  of  taxes  under  which  the  lower  order  of  people 
in  this  country  laboured,  yet  it  was  a  comfort  to  hear  that  she  was  the 
balance  of  power,  and  the  protector  of  the  liberties  of  Europe.' — Fox, 
February  15,  1787,  Speeches  (181 5),  iii.  285  ;  cf.  his  speech,  November  27, 
1787,  ibid.  iii.  331.  *  If  Europe  does  not  conceive  the  independence  and  the 
equilibrium  of  the  Empire  to  be  in  the  very  essence  of  the  system  of  balanced 
power  in  Europe,  and  if  the  scheme  of  public  law  in  Europe,  a  mass  of  laws 
upon  which  that  independence  and  equilibrium  are  founded,  be  of  no  leading 
consequence  as  they  are  preserved  or  destroyed,  all  the  politics  of  Europe 
for  more  than  two  centuries  have  been  miserably  erroneous.' — Burke, 
Thoughts  on  French  Afairs  (1791),  Works  (1823),  vii.  28.  Even  the  enormity 
of  the  crime  of  the  partitioning  of  Poland — '  the  testament  of  the  old 
Europe ' — seemed  to  be  mitigated,  inasmuch  as  deference  seemed  to  be 
paid  to  the  principle  of  balance  in  the  deed  of  partition.  With  true  apprecia- 
tion and  foresight,  Burke  wrote  in  1772  to  '  a  Prussian  gentleman  '  :  '  Pray, 
dear  sir,  what  is  next  ?  These  powers  will  continue  armed.  Their  arms 
must  have  employment.  Poland  was  but  a  breakfast,  and  there  are  not 
many  Polands  to  be  found.  Where  will  they  dine  ?  After  all  our  love  of 
tranquillity,  and  all  expedients  to  preserve  it,  alas,  poor  Peace  ! ' — Corre- 
spondence (1844),  i.  403.  The  necessity  of  upholding  a  balance  in  Europe 
with  a  view  to  security  is  the  central  argument  in  Gentz'  State  oj  Europe 
before  and  after  the  French  Revolution  (an  answer  to  Hauterive's  De  V  Etat  de 
la  France  a  la  Fin  de  VAn  VIIT) :  see,  more  especially,  in  translation  by 
Herries,  2nd  ed.,  1803,  17,  55,  92,  97-8,  122,  153,  223-4,  258,  261  ;  and,  on 
the  partitioning  of  Poland,  112,  131-44.  See  also  Bernard,  Four  Lectures  on 
Diplomacy  (1868),  97-100,  and  works  mentioned  in  foot-note,  p.  100. 


D.   SECRET  DIPLOMACY  OF  LOUIS  XV 

The  '  secret  diplomacy  '  or  *  secret  correspondence '  of  Louis  XV  has  its 
first  beginnings  in  1745,  at  the  time  of  the  pourparlers  with  the  Polish  nobles 
at  Paris  in  the  interest  of  the  candidature  of  the  Prince  de  Conti  for  the 
Polish  throne.  Conti  was  at  first  the  chief  agent  of  the  King  in  la  diplomatie 
secrete.  It  received  impetus  from  the  fall  of  d'Argenson  in  January  1 747,  and 
in  1750  is  found  in  vigorous  and  widely-diffused  activity.  The  Count  de 
Broglie  became  attached  to  it  on  March  12,  1752,  and  two  days  later  was 
nominated  Ambassador  to  Poland.  See  Boutaric,  Correspondence  secrite 
inedite  de  Louis  XV  (i  886) ;  Le  Due  de  Broglie,  Le  Secret  du  Roi  (i  878),  and 
Politique  de  tous  les  Cabinets  de  t Europe  .  .  .  contenant  des  Piices  authen- 
tiques  sur  la  Correspondance  secrite  du  Cte  de  Broglie  .  .  .  ;   first  published 


Secret  Diplomacy  of  Louis  XV  8i 

in  1793  in  2  vols.  ;  later,  with  notes  and  commentaries  and  additions  by 
Segur,  in  3  vols.,  2nd  ed.  1801,  3rd  ed.  1802.  Segur's  Preface  of  twenty 
pages  and  his  notes  are  of  great  value,  especially  for  their  insight  and 
suggestiveness.  '  Le  Comte  de  Broglie  avoit  trop  d'esprit,  et  Favier  trop 
de  connoissances  pour  croire  sincerement  qu'on  put,  au  milieu  de  la  fluctua- 
tion des  Cabinets  de  I'Europe,  et  des  variations  de  leurs  forces  et  de  leurs 
projets,  etablir  un  systeme  federatif  permanent ;  ils  devoient  savoir  qu'il 
n'existe  pour  aucune  puissance,  ni  ami,  ni  ennemi  naturel,  que  pour  un 
temps  plus  ou  moins  long,  et  que  les  amities  et  les  rivalites  des  Peuples 
doivent  changer  comme  leur  fortune  et  les  caracteres  de  ceux  qui  les  gouver- 
nent.  Ce  qu'on  doit  naturellement  penser,  c'est  que  le  Ministere  secret, 
imagine  par  la  mefiance  du  Monarque  fran^ais,  vouloit,  pour  se  rendre  utile, 
combattre  le  systeme  du  Ministere  public  .  .  ,  Les  Memoires  du  Comte 
de  Broglie,  le  Tableau  Politique  de  Favier,  et  les  Doutes  de  ce  meme  Auteur 
sur  le  Traite  de  1756  [contained  in  Politique  de  tous  les  Cabinets],  sont  devenus 
des  Ouvrages  presque  classiques  aux  yeux  des  nouveaux  diplomates  :  le 
succes  prodigieux  qu'ils  ont  obtenu  dans  un  temps  ou  ils  flattoient  les 
preventions  et  les  haines  nationales,  les  a  revetus  d'une  autorite  que  je 
crois  utile  de  combattre  et  d'afloiblir.' — i.  (3rd  ed.)  17,  18.  '  Ce  qui  prouve 
sans  replique  le  vice  de  ce  systeme,  c'est  que  chacun  des  ambassadeurs  qui 
ont  eu  part  a  cette  correspondance,  ignoree  de  leur  chef,  auroient,  lorsqu'ils 
ont  ete  ministres,  blame  et  poursuivi  avec  animosite  tout  homme  qui  en 
auroit  entretenu  quelqu'une  h.  leur  insu.' — Ibid.  86-7  (from  a  note  by  Segur). 


E.   FREDERICK  THE   GREAT  ON  PARLIAMENTS 

The  correspondence  for  1757  and  1758  preserved  in  the  Public  Record 
Office,  Prussia,  70-71,  furnishes  ample  evidence  of  Frederick's  growing 
distrust  of  the  British  Parliament  in  the  early  years  of  the  war,  and  before 
his  disposition  of  mind  became  one  of  fixed  '  abuse  '.  See  Holdernesse's 
letter  to  Mitchell,  November  29,  1757 ;  Mitchell  to  Holdernesse,  November 
28,  1757  ('During  the  whole  Campaign  England  has  done  nothing,  the 
Strength  of  the  Nation  was  melted  away  in  Faction  ')  ;  Holdernesse  to 
Mitchell,  December  12,  1757  ('You  will  have  learnt,  with  Pleasure,  the 
Unanimity  with  which  the  present  Session  of  Parliament  has  been  opened  ; 
the  Zeal  with  which  the  Protestant  cause  is  supported  ;  and  the  chearfulness 
with  which  People,  in  general,  will  bear  the  heavy  Load.  ...  An  Attempt 
to  send  British  troops  abroad  wou'd  put  the  continuance  of  this  happy 
Situation  of  Things  at  Home  to  the  greatest  Hazard  ;  and  it  is  past  doubt^ 
that  a  unanimity  in  Parliament  is,  in  this  critical  session,  of  much  more 

2224  o 


82  Diplomacy  and  Foreign  Policy 

consequence  to  the  Interests  of  Germany,  than  a  few  British  troops  joined 
to  the  Armies  there  could  possibly  be  ')  ;  Mitchell  to  Holdernesse,  December 
25,  1757  ('  I  have  no  doubt  His  Prussian  Majesty  will  be  highly  pleased  with 
the  affectionate  Manner  in  which  His  Majesty  has  mentioned  him  to  His 
Parliament,  and  with  the  Addresses  of  both  Houses,  but  He  will  naturally 
say  Words  will  no  longer  do,  what  succour  will  your  Nation  give  to  carry 
on  the  War  next  year  ?  .  .  .  What  assurances  can  you  give  that  your 
Nation  will  act  with  Vigour  and  Spirit,  against  the  Common  Enemy  ?  or 
will  this  Winter  be  spent  (as  the  last  was)  in  fruitless  Enquiries  who  is  to  be 
blamed  for  the  late  Miscarriages  ? ') ;  Holdernesse  to  Mitchell  (a  strong  letter), 
February  25,  1758;  Mitchell  to  Holdernesse,  December  11,  1758  ('His 
Prussian  Majesty  .  .  .  congratulated  me  on  the  Harmony  and  Unanimity, 
which  now  prevail  in  the  Councils  of  Great  Britain,  which  he  said  was  a  most 
fortunate  event  for  the  Common  Cause,  and  could  not  fail  of  being  productive 
of  the  best  effects,  whether  the  Allies  were  obliged  to  carry  on  the  War,  or 
enabled  to  make  an  honourable  and  secure  Peace  '). 


THE    LITERATURE 

OF 

INTERNATIONAL    RELATIONS 


02 


THE    LITERATURE    OF    INTERNATIONAL 
RELATIONS 

I 
Introductory 

*  La  diplomatie,  traitee  theoriquement,  peut  etre  ramenee 
a  des  principes  fixes,  parce  qu'elle  est  fondee  sur  des  preceptes 
plus  ou  moins  positifs,  et  qu'elle  a  un  objet  precis  et  distinct, 
celui  de  regler  les  rapports  qui  existent  ou  doivent  exister 
entre  les  divers  fitats :  dans  son  acception  la  plus  etendue, 
c'est  /^  science  des  relations  exterieures  ou  affaires  etrangeres 
des  Etats,  et,  dans  un  sens  plus  determine,  la  science  ou  Vart 
des  negociations.  La  diversite  et  la  mobilite  de  ces  rapports 
dependent  de  la  formation  et  de  I'origine  des  fitats,  des 
principes  constitutifs  des  gouvernements,  de  I'appreciation  de 
leur  puissance,  reelle  ou  presumee,  des  variations  de  leur 
position  relative,  de  leurs  affinites,  de  leurs  discordances,  de 
la  vicissitude  des  evenements,  etc.,  etc.  Or,  toutes  ces  donnees 
reposent  sur  autant  de  faits,  dont  la  recherche,  la  comparaison 
et  I'enchainement  peuvent  tres-bien  devenir  un  objet  d'etude ; 
et  les  nombreux  ouvrages  historiques,  les  collections  de 
memoires,  de  traites  et  de  correspondances  diplomatiques, 
sont  autant  de  moyens  d'instruction  qui  ne  laissent  que 
I'embarras  du  choix  a  celui  qui  se  voit  appele  a  prendre  part 
aux  negociations  et  aux  affaires.  ... 

'  L'etude  de  la  diplomatie  proprement  dite  exige  la  con- 
naissance  speciale  : 

1°  Du  droit  des  gens  naturel  et  du  droit  public  universel,  qui 
renferment  les  maximes  fondamentales  de  toute  juris- 
prudence positive  en  matiere  politique  ; 

2°  Du  droit  des  gens  positij  europeen,  fonde  sur  les  traites 
et  les  usages,  lesquels,  en  modifiant  les  maximes 
fondamentales,  ont  regie  les  rapports  des  nations,  soit 
en  paix,  soit  en  guerre  ; 

3°  Du  droit  public  des  principaux  Etats  de  P Europe,  fonde 
sur  les  lois  de  chaque  fitat ; 


86     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

4°  De  Vhistoire  et  de  ses  branches  subsidiaires,  particuliere- 

ment  de  I'histoire  des  guerres,  des  negociations  et  des 

iraites  des  derniers  siecles,  qui  servent  a  connaitre  la 

marche  et  la  tendance  des  cabinets ; 
5°  Des  divers  systemes  politiques  qui  peuvent  etre  mis  en 

oeuvre,  tels  que  ceux  de  domination,  d'equilibre,  de 

confederation,  etc. ; 
6*^  De    Veconomie    politique,    qui    enseigne    comment    les 

richesses   sociales,   independamment   de   I'organisation 

politique,  se  forment,  se  distribuent  et  se  consomment ; 
7°  De  la  geographie  et  de  la  statistique  des  Etats  ; 
8°  De  la  conduite  des  negociations,  ou,  pour  mieux  dire,  de 

la  marche  a  suivre  dans  la  discussion  des  interets  entre 

les  fitats  ; 
9°  De   Vart  i'ecrire  en   affaires  politiques,  c'est-a-dire   de 

composer  et  de  rediger  les  actes  et  offices  auxquels  les 

rapports  entre  les  fitats  donnent  lieu.' 

Charles  de  Martens  •    Le  Guide  diplomatique y 
4th  ed.  (1851),  i.  1-2,  6-j. 

'  De  tous  les  ministeres  de  I'fitat  celui  des  affaires  etrangeres 
est  peut-etre  celui  ou  il  importe  le  plus  d'assurer  la  stabilite 
des  emplois,  I'avancement  par  le  merite  et  le  maintien  des 
traditions ;  car  sa  besogne  se  resume  dans  la  defense  de  I'in- 
teret  national  contre  I'interet  Stranger,  et  les  erreurs  en  pareille 
matiere  sont  d'autant  plus  graves  qu'elles  restent  la  plupart  du 
temps  irreparables.  Une  fausse  combinaison  dans  I'adminis- 
tration  interieure  se  rectifie  par  une  combinaison  plus  juste. 
Une  bonne  loi  en  abroge  une  mauvaise.  Mais  une  demarche 
imprudente,  une  concession  maladroite  en  diplomatie,  une 
convention  desavantageuse  surtout,  comment  la  retirer, 
lorsque  la  partie  adverse  la  retient  et  s'en  pr^vaut  avec  tout 
droit  de  la  retenir  et  de  s'en  prevaloir  ? ' 

Deffaudis  :    Questions  diplomatiques  (1849)  ;   see 
Extract  in  Le  Guide  diplomatique,  i.  335-67. 

For  such  mastery  as  is  attainable  of  problems  of  international 
policy  at  any  point  of  time  and  contact  in  the  relations  of  State 
to   State   particularity   of   knowledge   is   indispensable,    and 


Introductory  87 

that  must  be  sought  in  special  works  and  in  the  sources  that 
bear  upon  each  problem.  The  aim  in  what  follows  is  to  help 
towards  forming  the  habit  of  mind  that  is  required  for  appre- 
ciating questions  of  foreign  policy.  Rousseau,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Marquis  de  Mirabeau,  said  of  Politics  that  it  is  *  une 
science  des  calculs,  des  combinaisons,  et  des  exceptions,  selon 
les  lieux,  les  temps  et  les  circonstances '.  In  no  region  of 
politics  have  these  words  more  pertinence  and  force  than  in 
that  of  international  relations.  In  none  is  it  more  imperative 
to  understand,  and  in  none  more  difficult  to  allow  for,  the 
measure  of  prudence  and  the  measure  of  justice  contained  in 
the  means  that  are  adopted  for  ends  that  have  been  sought 
or  for  such  as  have  been  attained,  in  varying  degrees  of  achieve- 
ment. '  Le  grand  art  du  diplomate  '  has  been  very  aptly 
expressed  as  '  bien  dire  dans  Vordre  convenable  tout  ce  qui  doit 
etre  dit,  et  rien  au  deld  '.^  It  is  a  condensation  of  the  art  almost 
violent  in  its  terseness  ;  and  its  assumption  of  the  possibility 
of  a  nice  adjustment,  by  a  stroke  of  genius,  of  means  to  end 
must  not  be  allowed  to  obscure  the  fact  that,  while  the  schooling 
in  le  style  diplomatique  may  be  precise  and  correct — ^while 
it  may  be  possible  to  unite  to  '  la  precision  des  idees  la  pro- 
priete  des  termes  et  la  concision  du  style  ' — yet  the  fields  of 
action  and  conduct  are  spacious  and  of  mixed  soils,  and  the 
cultivators  are  many  and  of  many  minds.  The  definition  of 
the  art  of  diplomacy  which  has  been  cited  is  one  which  is 
suggested  more  especially  by  the  requirements  of  what  is  termed 
le  style  diplomatique,  le  style  de  cour,  or  le  style  de  chancellerie. 
The  art  of  writing  letters  and  notes  and  of  producing  other 
compositions,  whether  they  be  merely  polite  or  be  sternly 
pertinent  to  the  business  on  hand,  is  not  the  whole  of  the  art 
of  diplomacy.     Even,  however,  within  the  exercise  of  that 

^  Charles  de  Martens,  Le  Guide  diplomatique  (4th  ed.),  ii.  5. 


8S     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

more  particular  art  there  are  lessons  of  guidance  that  may 
serve  as  lessons  of  caution  and  warning  to  the  stmlent  of  history 
in  his  survey  of  international  relations.  There  are,  said  the 
elder  Charles  Francis  Adams,^  three  sorts  of  diplomatic  com- 
position which  are  habitually  resorted  to,  in  accordance  with 
the  traditional  diplomacy,  in  meeting  particular  necessities. 
One  is  used  when  hostility  is  intended.  '  The  language  is 
then  courteous,  but  short,  every  word  covering  intelligible 
offence.'  The  second  is  used  when  dissatisfaction  is  to  be 
expressed  but  no  action  is  to  follow.  '  Then  the  notes  are  apt 
to  be  long  and  full  of  argument,  with  abundant  citation  of 
authorities,  yet  terminating  with  nothing  but  assurances  of 
the  highest  consideration,  et  cetera.'  The  third  is  used  when 
there  prevails  a  sincere  desire  for  harmony.  '  Then  the  phrases 
are  less  studied  and  the  intent  more  directly  signified — the 
whole  sense  conveyed  in  brief  notes.'  ^  The  effect  of  the  dif- 
ference between  a  letter  in  the  first  person  and  a  note  in  the 
third  is  greater,  it  has  been  observed,  than  would  be  surmised 
by  any  one  who  has  not  been  habituated  to  both  modes  in 
diplomatic  intercourse.  '  The  third  person,  "  The  Under- 
signed," is  stiff,  cold,  formal,  and  dignified  ;  it  is  negotiation 
in  court  dress,  bag  wig,  sword  by  side,  chapeau  de  bras,  white 
silk  stockings,  and  patent  shoe-buckles.  Letters  in  the  first 
person  are  negotiations  in  frock  coat,  pantaloons,  half-boots, 
and  a  round  hat.'  * 

The  student  of  international  relations  needs  precise  as  well 
as  vast  equipment  in  knowledge,  but,  not  less,  he  needs  equip- 
ment in  a  habit  of  mind. 

*  Son  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  grandson  of  John  Adams  ;  United 
States  Minister  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  1 861-8. 

*  Quoted  by  W.  V.  Kellen  in  Henry  Wbeaton  :  An  Appreciation  (Boston, 
1902),  p.  31 — a  high  and  finely  sympathetic  tribute. 

'  J.  Q.  Adams'  Memoirs,  iv.  327,  quoted  by  J.  W.  Forster,  Practice  of 
Diplomacy,  76,  and  thence  by  Satow,  A  Guide  to  Diplomatic  Practice,  i.  69. 


2  . 

General  Guide 

The  Cambridge  Modern  History,  and  Histoire  Generate, 
edited  by  Lavisse  et  Rambaud,  are  written  on  a  considerable 
scale,  and  should  be  used  after  a  knowledge  of  European  and 
general  Modern  History  has  been  acquired  on  a  smaller  scale, 
e.  g.  from  the  eight  volumes  in  the  series  entitled  '  Periods  of 
European  History  '.^  In  the  volumes  of  this  series  will  be 
found  references,  though  too  few,  to  secondary  authorities 
bearing  on  each  period.  For  more  detailed  study  of  a  special 
period  or  a  special  subject  in  primary  authorities  as  well  as 
secondary,  guidance  adequate  for  most  is  provided  in  several 
recently  published  bibliographical  lists,  as  in  those  appended 
to  each  volume  of  The  Cambridge  Modern  History.  No  '  Manuel 
de  Bibliographic  historique  '  exists  for  the  student  of  English 
history  equal  in  scope  and  quality  to  Les  Archives  de  VHistoire 
de  France,  by  MM.  Langlois  and  Stein  (Paris,  1891,  pp.  xvii  + 
1,000)  :  '  un  inventaire  sommaire  des  archives  de  I'histoire 
de  France.  C'est  un  guide  a  travers  les  etablissements  ou  ces 
archives  sont  conservees.  Nous  entendons  par  "  archives  de 
I'histoire  de  France  "  la  collection  de  tous  les  documents  d'' ar- 
chives relatifs  a  I'histoire  de  France,  c'est-a-dire  les  pieces 
officielles  de  toute  espece  :  chartes,  comptes,  enquetes,  etc.,  et 
les  correspondances  publiques  ou  privees  '  {Introduction,  p.  i). 

^  Oman,  The  Dark  Ages,  476-918;  Tout,  The  Empire  and  the  Papacy, 
918-1273;  Lodge,  The  Close  oj  the  Middle  Ages,  1273 -1494;  Johnson, 
Europe  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  1494 -1598;  Wakeman,  The  Ascendancy 
of  France,  1 598-1 71 5  ;  Hassall,  The  Balance  of  Power,  1715-89  ;  Stephens, 
Revolutionary  Europe,  1 789-1 81 5  ;   Phillips,  Modern  Europe,  1815-99. 


90      The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

For  the  purposes  of  the  student  of  international  relations  the 
following  sections  of  this  work  are  especially  of  use  :  Part  I, 
ch.  ii,  Archives  des  Ministeres  :  Ministere  des  Affaires  fitran- 
geres,  pp.  45-50 ;  in  Part  II — Les  Archives  de  I'Histoire  de 
France  a  I'fitranger — ^Archives  d'fitat  (Staatsarchive)  at 
Berlin,  pp.  632-3  ;  at  Dresden,  p.  634 ;  at  Munich,  p.  637  ; 
at  Vienna,  pp.  646-9  ;  at  Budapest,  pp.  649-50  ;  in  Belgium, 
pp.  665-6;  at  Simancas, pp.  700-2,  with  foot-notes;  in  England, 
pp.  731-34  and  737-40  (for  an  account  of  the  Public  Record 
Office,  see  pp.  711  et  seq.,  with  valuable  foot-notes)  ;  in 
Italy  (see  an  account  of  the  Vatican  Archives,  pp.  743  seq.), 
pp.  751-2  (rapports  des  nonces,  Archivio  segreto  Vaticano  : 
Secr^tairerie  d'fitat),  pp.  758-76  {Archivi  di  Stato)  ^ ;  at  the 
Hague,  pp.  792-3;  in  Denmark,  pp.  810-11  ;  in  Sweden, 
pp.  813-15;  in  Russia,  pp.  820-1 ;  in  Switzerland,  pp.  825-36. 

*  With  reference  to  the  Despacci  degli  ambasciatori  e  residenti  veneti 
aWestero,  the  authors  write,  p.  774  :  '  Les  ambassadeurs  des  petlts  £tats 
italiens  ont  ete  de  tout  temps  de  fins  observateurs  ;  lis  tenaient  de  veri- 
tables  journaux  de  I'histoire  des  cours  auprds  desquelles  ils  etaient  accr^dites, 
et,  de  nos  jours,  I'histoire  dc  France,  d'Angleterre,  d'Allemagne  s'est 
trouvee  tout  eclairee  par  les  temoignages  enfin  mis  au  jour  des  rapports 
envoycs  k  leurs  gouvernements  par  les  envoyes  pontificaux,  toscans, 
piemontais,  venitiens.  Les  depfiches  venitiennes  sont  les  plus  celebres. 
Celles  de  France  sont  au  nombre  de  plus  de  z  1,000,  reliees  en  268  liasses,  de 
I'annee  1554  k  I'annee  1797.  Les  depfches  anterieures  k  1554  (la  serie 
commen^ait  certainement  au  plus  tard  sous  le  regne  de  Louis  XII,  qui 
vit  pour  la  premiere  fois  des  ambassades  regulieres  de  la  Seigneuric  a  la 
cour  de  France)  semblent  avoir  ete  detruites  par  I'incendie  des  la  fin  du 
xvi^  siecle  .  .  .  Les  archives  specialcs  du  Conseil  des  Dix  renfermcnt  sous 
la  rubrique  Lettres  des  ambassadeurs  en  diferents  pays  adressees  aux  cbejs 
du  Conseil  des  Dix  des  depeches  qu'en  certaines  circonstances  les  envoyes 
adressaient,  non  au  Senat,  mais  aux  Dix.  La  plus  ancicnne,  concernant  la 
France,  est  du  19  juin  1500;  la  plus  reccntc  du  29  octobre  1700.  La 
majeure  partie  (prds  de  300)  appartient  a  la  premiere  moitii  du  xvi°  siecle.* 


3 

Juristic  Literature :    Development  of  International 
Understandings  as  '  Law ' 

This  is  a  subject  of  great  importance  for  the  student  of 
history.  It  shows  a  growth  of  principles  and  an  accumulation 
of  precedents  that  have  resulted  from  the  clash  of  interests, 
the  sway  of  reason,  and  grinding  necessity.  Historically  viewed, 
it  resolves  itself  very  largely  into  a  study  of  compacts  and  of 
conventional  morality. 

I  {a).  Wheaton  (Henry),  History  of  the  Law  of  Nations  in 
Europe  and  America  ;  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  Treaty  of 
Washington^  1842  (New  York,  1845),  pp.  xiv  +  797. 

This  work  was  originally  written  and  published  in  French  as 
a  Memoire  in  answer  to  a  prize  question,  submitted  for  the 
year  1839,  ^7  ^^^  Academy  of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences 
of  the  Institute  of  France  :  '  Quels  sont  les  progres  qu'a  fait 
le  droit  des  gens  en  Europe  depuis  la  Paix  de  Westphalie  ?  ' 
In  rendering  the  work  into  English,  the  author  made  consider- 
able extensions  and  additions,  especially  in  the  introductory 
part  which  treats  of  the  history  of  the  European  law  of  nations 
before  the  Peace  of  Westphalia.^ 

^  Only  one  edition  of  the  work  in  English  was  published,  and  the  volume 
is  now  rare.  Several  editions  were  published  in  French — the  date  of  the 
fourth  being  1865  (Leipzig,  1865,  2  vols.,  pp.  x+403,  and  pp.  vi  +  4io). 
A  useful  article  on  Wheaton's  History  was  written  by  Nassau  Senior  for 
the  Edinburgh  Review,  April  1843,  reprinted  in  his  Historical  and  Philo- 
sophical Essays  (1865),  i.  138-275.  It  contains  some  notes  of  dissent  from 
Wheaton. 


92      The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

In  his  Preface  Wheaton  quoted  one  of  the  two  or  three 
passages  from  Austin's  Jurisprudence  which  have  been  often 
plunged  deep  into  the  controversy  whether  International  Law 
is  really  '  law  '  at  all.  It  has  been  *  very  justly  observed  ',  he 
says,  that  (quoting  Austin)  *  international  law  is  founded  only 
on  the  opinions  generally  received  among  civilized  nations, 
and  its  duties  are  enforced  only  by  moral  sanctions  :  by  fear 
on  the  part  of  nations,  or  by  fear  on  the  part  of  sovereigns,  of 
provoking  general  hostility  and  incurring  its  probable  evils,  in 
case  they  should  violate  maxims  generally  received  and  re- 
spected '.  But  Wheaton  adds  that  these  motives  do  really 
afford,  even  in  the  worst  of  times,  '  a  considerable  security  for 
the  observance  of  those  rules  of  justice  between  states  which 
are  dictated  by  international  morahty,  although  they  are 
deficient  in  that  more  perfect  sanction  annexed  by  the  law- 
giver to  the  observance  of  a  positive  code  proceeding  from  the 
command  of  a  superiour'.  His  task  was  to  show  how  the 
history  of  the  progress  of  the  science  of  international  juris- 
prudence has  been  influenced  by  special  compacts  that  have 
modified  the  general  rules  founded  on  reason  and  usage,  and 
adapted  them  to  the  various  exigencies  of  human  society. 
Accordingly,  he  traced  the  progress  of  the  sense  of  international 
right  as  it  is  marked  not  only  in  the  writings  of  public  jurists 
and  in  judicial  decisions  but  also  in  '  the  history  of  wars  and 
negotiations,  in  the  debates  of  legislative  assemblies,  and  in 
the  texts  of  treaties,  from  the  earliest  times  of  classic  antiquity '. 
He  believed  that  the  general  result  of  the  survey  was  to  show 
*  a  considerable  advance,  both  in  the  theory  of  international 
morality,  and  in  the  practical  observance  of  the  rules  of  justice 
among  states,  although  this  advance  may  not  entirely  correspond 
with  the  rapid  progress  of  civilization  in  other  respects  '.  This 
field  of  knowledge,  he  urged,  deserves  cultivation,  for  it  is 
important  to '  the  jurist,  the  statesman,  and  the  philanthropist  '. 


Juristic  Literature  93 

In  a  '  Conclusion  '  (pp.  759-60)  the  author  summed  up  the 
general  results  of  his  retrospect  from  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia. 
The  chief  of  these  are  the  following  : 

'  That  the  pacific  relations  among  nations  have  been  main- 
tained by  the  general  establishment  of  permanent  missions, 
and  the  general  recognition  of  the  immunities  of  public 
ministers. 

'  Although  the  right  of  intervention  to  preserve  the  "  balance 
of  power  ",i  or  to  prevent  the  danger  to  which  one  country 
may  be  exposed  by  the  domestic  transactions  of  another,  has 
been  frequently  assumed ;  yet  no  general  rules  have  been 
discovered  by  which  the  occasions  which  may  justify  the 
exercise  of  this  right,  or  the  extent  to  which  it  may  be  carried, 
can  be  laid  down  ;  and  that  it  remains,  therefore,  an  undefined 
and  undefinable  exception  to  the  mutual  independence  of 
nations. 

'  The  exclusive  dominion,  claimed  by  certain  powers  over 
particular  seas,  has  been  abandoned  as  an  obsolete  pretension 
of  barbarous  times ;  the  general  use  of  the  high  seas,  without 
the  limits  of  any  particular  state,  for  the  purposes  of  naviga- 
tion, commerce,  and  fishing,  has  been  conceded.  .  . 

'  The  colonial  monopoly,  that  fruitful  source  of  wars,  has 
nearly  ceased  ;  and  with  it,  the  question  as  to  the  right  of 
neutrals  to  enjoy  in  war  a  commerce  prohibited  in  time  of 
peace. 

*  The  African  slave  trade  has  been  condemned  by  the 
opinion  of  all  Christian  nations,  and  prohibited  by  their 
separate  laws,  or  by  mutual  treaty  stipulations  between  them. 

'  The  practices  of  war  between  civilized  nations  have  been 
sensibly  mitigated,  and  a  comparison  of  the  present  modes  of 
warfare  with  the  system  of  Grotius  will  show  the  immense 
improvement  which  has  taken  place  in  the  laws  of  war. 

'  Although  there  is  still  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  rights  of 
neutral  navigation  in  time  of  war,  a  conventional  law  has 
been   created   by   treaty,    which   shows   a    manifest   advance 

^  The  author's  conclusion  regarding  the  application  of  the  right  of 
intervention  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power  is  expressed  less  concisely 
in  the  fourth  French  edition  of  his  work  (Leipzig,  1865),  ii.  405-8. 


94     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

towards  securing  the  commerce  of  nations  which  remain  at 
peace,  from  interruption  by  those  which  are  engaged  in  war. 

'  The  sphere,  within  which  the  European  law  of  nations 
operates,  has  been  widely  extended  by  the  unqualified  accession 
of  the  American  states ;  by  the  tendency  of  the  Mahommedan 
powers  to  adopt  the  public  law  of  Christendom  ;  and  by  the 
general  feeling,  even  among  less  civilized  nations,  that  there 
are  rights  which  they  may  exact  from  others,  and,  conse- 
quently, duties  which  they  may  be  required  to  fulfil. 

*  The  law  of  nations,  as  a  science,  has  advanced  with  the 
improvements  in  the  principles  and  language  of  philosophy ; 
with  our  extended  knowledge  of  the  past  and  present  condition 
of  mankind  resulting  from  deeper  researches  into  the  obscurer 
periods  of  history  and  the  discovery  of  new  regions  of  the 
globe ;  and  with  the  greater  variety  and  importance  of  the 
questions  to  which  the  practical  application  of  the  system  has 
given  rise. 

*  And  lastly,  that  the  law  of  nations,  as  a  system  of  positive 
rules  regulating  the  mutual  intercourse  of  sovereigns,  has 
improved  with  the  general  improvement  of  civilization,  of 
which  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  products.' 

These  conclusions  are  noteworthy  as  considered  lessons  drawn 
from  a  spacious  and  careful  survey  over  a  long  stretch  of  time  ; 
and  they  are  noteworthy  for  the  time  at  which  they  were 
drawn  as  well  as  by  reason  of  the  learning  and  diplomatic 
experience  of  their  author.^ 

The  book  contains  a  brief  retrospect,  in  pp.  1-67,  on  ancient 
and  mediaeval  customs  and  law  in  international  intercourse ; 
pp.  60-7  treat  of  the  Consolato  del  Mare.^    Although  much 

^  Wheaton  wrote  his  Preface  to  the  English  edition  of  his  work  at  Berlin 
in  November  1843.  He  was  Minister  of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of 
Berlin. 

'  See  Pardessus,  Collection  des  lots  maritimes  anterieures  au  dix-buitiime 
siicle  (6  vols.,  Paris,  1828-45) — ^  work  cited  by  Wheaton,  but  not  com- 
pleted at  the  time  he  wrote ;  also  Pardessus,  Lois  et  coutumes  de  la  mer^ 
ou  Collection  des  usages  maritimes  des  peuples  de  Fantiquite  et  du  moyen 
age  (2  vols.,  Paris,  1847) — ^  reproduction  of  chapters  1-4  of  the  larger 


Juristic  Literature  95 

of  the  historical  exposition  has  to  be  checked  by  the  results 
of  more  recent  investigation,  there  are  parts  of  Wheaton's  work 
that  are  still  of  use  to  the  student  of  history — the  following 
especially :  on  conventional  maritime  law  to  171 3  (pp.  1 15-25)  ; 
on  contraband  of  war  in  the  seventeenth  century  (pp.  126-45)  ; 
on  the  right  of  visitation  and  search  in  the  seventeenth  century 
(pp.  145-52) ;  on  the  dominion  of  the  seas  in  the  same  century 
(pp.  152-61) ;  on  the  Armed  NeutraUty  of  1780  (pp.  295-306), 
and  on  maritime  law  from  1793  to  1807  (pp.  372-420 — the 
Armed  Neutrality  of  1800,  pp.  397-420)  ;  on  intervention 
(pp.  80-2,  with  Fenelon's  statement  of  the  principle  with  a 
view  to  the  maintenance  of  the  balance  of  power,  pp.  82-3  ; 
pp.  284-9,  for  1788-92;  PP-345~^^>  for  1792-3;  and  pp.  518-63, 
for  1820-7 1 — Naples,  Spain,  Portugal,  Belgium,  Greece)  ;  and 
on  the  balance  of  power  (pp.  19-20,  80-1,  266-8,  345-6, 421-2). 
(b)  Nys,  Les  Origines  du  Droit  international  (1894),  pp.  v  + 
414  :  an  illuminating  companion  to  text-books  of  European 
history  :  ch.  i.  La  Notion  de  la  Science  du  Droit  international 
au  moyen  age ;  ch.  ii,  La  Papaute  et  I'Empire,  including 
sections  on  Gregory  VII,  Innocent  III,  The  Holy  Roman 

work  together  with  the  additions  made  to  these  chapters  in  the  concluding 
volume  of  the  first  Collection.  Wheaton's  interest  in  maritime  law  had 
been  shown  as  far  back  as  181 5,  when,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  he  published  a 
Digest  of  the  Law  of  Maritime  Captures  or  Prizes.  The  subject  was  of 
engrossing  interest  to  his  fellow-citizens  as  well  as  to  European  States, 
and  had  called  forth  a  number  of  works,  useful  to  the  student  of  history, 
since  1800,  the  year  of  the  second  Armed  Neutrality — works  of  which 
a  good  representative  is  Ward's  Treatise  of  the  relative  Rights  and  Duties 
of  Belligerent  and  Neutral  Powers  in  Maritime  Affairs,  in  which  the 
Principles  of  Armed  Neutralities  .  .  .  are  fully  discussed  (1801).  For  the 
Armed  Neutrality  of  1780,  see  Martens,  Recueil  de  Traites,  vol.  iii,  and 
for  that  of  1800,  vol.  vii. 

^  See  also  Stapleton,  Intervention  and  Non-intervention  of  Great  Britain, 
1 790-1 865  (1866),  and  Reddaway,  The  Monroe  Doctrine  (1898) ;  Wheaton's 
Elements,  fifth  ed.,  90-125  (Monroe  Doctrine,  97-101). 


96    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

Empire,  Dante  and  the  De  Monarchia,  and  Bartolus,  and  on 
the  theory  of  the  Empire  and  independent  kingdoms  ;  ch.  iii, 
Le  Christianisme  et  la  Guerre  ;  ch.  vii,  La  Guerre  contre  les 
Infideles  et  contre  les  Heretiques ;  ch.  viii,  L'Equilibrc 
Europeen  ;  ch.  xiv,  La  Diplomatie  et  les  Ambassades  per- 
manentes  ;  ch.  xvi,  La  Liberte  des  Mers  ;  ch.  xvii,  Les 
Irenistes,  including  sections  on  L'figlise  et  la  Treve  de  Dieu, 
Le  grand  dessein  de  Henri  IV,  and  L'Abb6  de  Saint-Pierre  et 
la  Paix  perpetuelle. 

{c)  Walker,  A  History  of  the  Law  of  Nations^  vol.  i  (1899) — 
From  the  earliest  times  to  the  Peace  of  Westphalia^  pp.  xxx  +  361  : 
the  only  volume  published.  The  work  supplements  Wheaton's 
History  on  ancient  times  and  the  Middle  Ages,  and  on  the  times 
and  the  teaching  of  Gentilis  and  Grotius.  Pages  31-137  treat 
of  '  The  Evolution  of  International  Law  '  to  the  close  of 
the  Middle  Ages — ^pp.  31-6  on  the  Israelites,  pp.  37-43  on  the 
Greeks,  pp.  43-57  on  the  Romans,^  pp.  57-79  on  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  pp.  79-137  on  the  Middle  Ages. 

2.  Treatises  of  International  Law.  It  is  well  for  the  student 
of  modern  history,  from  at  least  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  to  come  to  know  something  of  works  on 
International  Law  that  were  actually  used,  and  were  influ- 
ential, in  each  age — ^those,  for  example,  of  Vattel  {Le  Droit  des 
Gens  (1758)),  of  G.  F.  von  Martens  {Precis  du  Droit  des  Gens 
moderne  de  V Europe  fonde  sur  les  Traites  et  I' Usage  (1788)), 
and  of  Wheaton  (Elements  of  International  Law  (1836)). 

The  Law  of  Nations  Vattel  defined  as  '  the  science  which 
teaches  the  rights  subsisting  between  nations  or  states,  and  the 
obligations  correspondent  to  those  rights  '.*    Vattel's  general 

*  See  Phillipson,  International  Lam  and  Custom  ol  Ancient  Greece  and 
Rome. 

*  The  Law  of  Nations  .  .  .  from  the  French  of  Monsieur  de  Fattel,  by 
Joseph  Chitty  (1834),  liii.    Hceren  {The  Political  System  of  Europe,  traml., 


Juristic  Literature  97 

standpoint  is  seen  in  the  sub- title  to  his  work  :  '  Principles  of 
the  Law  of  Nature,  applied  to  the  Conduct  and  to  the  Affairs 
of  Nations  and  Sovereigns '.  He  is  not,  however,  a  pure 
'  Naturalist ' :  he  is  one  of  '  the  Grotians '  of  the  eighteenth 
century  by  reason  of  his  intermediate  position,  neither  absolutely 
Naturalist  nor  pronouncedly  Positivist.  This  intermediate 
position  made  the  appeal  to  him  the  readier,  if  also  somewhat 
flexible,  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  it 
combined  with  the  clearness  of  his  enunciations  to  give  to  his 
work  a  high  place  and  long-continued  influence  in  the  conduct 
of  diplomacy.  For  an  Appendix  to  his  Remarks  on  the  Policy 
of  the  Allies  with  respect  to  France  (1793),  Burke  made  consider- 
able extracts  from  Vattel's  work,  dealing  principally  with 
intervention  and  with  the  idea  underlying  '  the  political 
system  '  of  Europe.^  '  Vattel,'  said  Fox,  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  in  January  1794,  '  than  whom  I  know  of  no  man 
more  eminent  in  the  science  on  which  he  has  written,  has  laid 
it  down  as  a  principle,  that  every  independent  nation  has  an 
undoubted  right  to  regulate  its  form  of  government.'  ^  '  My 
honourable  friend,'^  he  had  remarked,  in  words  immediately 
preceding, 

'  in  attempting  to  prove  that  the  origin  of  the  war  *  was 
not  imputable  to  this  country,  treated  the  established  principles 
of  the  law  of  nations  with  as  little  respect  as  M.  Genet,  the 
French  minister  to  the  United  States  of  America.  My  honour- 
able friend  said  that  no  dependence  could  be  placed  upon 
the  authority  of  Vattel,  with  respect  to  the  question  of  an 
interference  in  the  internal  affairs  of  other  nations,  and  that 
arguments  might  be  drawn  from  his  work  favourable  to  either 
side.     He  contended  that  there  might  exist  circumstances  of 

Oxford,  1834, 1.  II,  foot-note)  said  of  Vattel's  Le  Droit  des  Gens  that  it 
'  has  obtained  the  highest  authority  among  practical  statesmen  '. 

^  Works  (1823),  vii.  201-15.  ^Speeches  (1815),  v.  156. 

*  William  Windham.  *  War  with  France,  February  1793. 

2224  „ 


98     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

such  a  peculiar  nature,  as  to  supersede  authority,  and  preclude 
the  application  of  established  principles.  Exactly  in  the  same 
manner  reasoned  M.  Genet  :  "  I  would  throw  Vattel  and 
Grotius  into  the  sea,"  said  that  minister,  "  whenever  their 
principles  interfere  with  my  notions  of  the  rights  of  nations  ". 
Just  so  my  honourable  friend  seems  disposed  to  treat  them 
whenever  they  controvert  his  ideas  of  those  principles  which 
ought  to  regulate  our  conduct  in  the  present  moment.  Thus 
both,  in  order  to  suit  their  own  convenience  in  departing  from 
the  established  standard,  give  their  sanction  to  a  new  code. 
I,  however,  more  inclined  as  I  am  to  adhere  to  the  ancient 
standard,  and  to  follow  established  rules  of  judging,  hold  the 
opinions  of  eminent  men,  dispassionately  given  on  subjects 
which  they  have  accurately  studied,  to  be  of  considerable 
importance.  I  consider  those  opinions  formed  under  cir- 
cumstances most  favourable  to  the  discovery  of  truth,  to  be 
the  result  of  unbiased  inquiry,  and  minute  investigation,  and 
therefore  entitled  to  great  weight  in  regulating  the  conduct  of 
nations.  Those  writers,  in  laying  down  their  maxims,  were 
not  distracted  by  local  prejudices  or  by  partial  interests ; 
they  reasoned  upon  great  principles,  and  from  a  wide  survey 
of  the  state  of  nations,  and  comparing  the  result  of  their  own 
reflections  with  the  lessons  taught  them  by  the  experience 
of  former  ages,  constructed  that  system,  which  they  conceived 
to  be  of  most  extensive  utility  and  universal  application. 
From  the  system  of  such  men  I  shoidd  be  cautious  to  deviate.'  * 

Appeal  to  the  natural  justice  on  which  Vattel  founded  was  more 
appropriate  to  the  generous  mind  in  politics,  and  especially 
to  the  exercise  of  that  mind  in  Opposition  in  the  person  of 
Charles  James  Fox,  than  to  the  prudent  temper  and  sagacious 
outlook  of  Pitt,  the  administrator,  the  pilot  of  the  State  amid 
the  storms  of  war. 

An  example  of  the  use  of  Vattel  in  the  official  conduct  of 

international  relations  may  be  taken  from  the  course  of  the 

controversy  regarding  contraband  after  the  outbreak  of  the 

wars  of  the  French  Revolution.     In  April  1795  an  Order  in 

*  Speeches,  v.  155-6. 


Juristic  Literature  99 

Council  instructed  British  cruisers  to  stop  and  detain  all 
vessels  that  were  laden,  wholly  or  in  part,  with  corn,  flour, 
meal,  and  other  articles  of  provisions,  and  that  were  bound  to 
any  port  in  France,  and  to  send  them  into  a  British  port  in 
order  that  such  corn  and  other  provisions  might  be  purchased 
on  behalf  of  the  British  Government.  The  question'  of  the 
legality  of  this  Order  was  discussed  before  a  mixed  commission 
appointed,  under  the  treaty  of  commerce  and  navigation 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  in  1794,  to 
decide  on  the  claims  of  American  citizens  owing  to  irregular 
or  illegal  captures  and  condemnations  of  their  property  under 
the  authority  of  the  BritishGovernment.  The  Order  in  Council 
was  supported  on  two  grounds,  although  it  was  subsequently 
revoked.  Firstly,  it  was  urged  that  the  Order  was  issued  when 
there  was  a  prospect  of  reducing  the  enemy  to  terms  by  famine, 
and  in  such  circumstances  provisions  bound  to  the  enemy's 
ports  became  so  far  contraband  as  to  justify  seizure  of  them  by 
Britain,  upon  condition  of  the  invoice  price  being  paid,  with 
a  reasonable  mercantile  profit  added,  together  with  freight 
and  demurrage.  Secondly,  it  was  urged  that  the  Order  was 
justifiable  on  the  plea  of  necessity,  since  the  British  people  at 
the  time  were  threatened  with  a  scarcity  of  the  articles  directed 
to  be  seized.  The  general  law  of  nations  was  invoked  in  favour 
of  the  first  of  these  positions,  and  the  chief  evidence  cited  was 
a  passage  from  Vattel,  as  follows  : 

'Commodities  that  are  particularly  useful  in  war  and  the 
importation  of  which  to  an  enemy  is  prohibited,  are  called 
contraband  goods.  Such  are  arms,  ammunition,  timber  for 
shipping  and  whatever  is  of  service  for  the  construction  and 
armament  of  vessels  of  war,  horses,  and  even  provisions,  in 
certain  junctures,  when  there  is  a  hope  of  reducing  the  enemy 
by  famine.'  ^ 

^  Book  III,  ch.  vii,  §  I2.  Wheaton  (History,  380-1)  describes  the  passage 
as  a  *  loose '  one,  a  '  vague  text  *.    Wheaton  shows  the  use  to  which  Vattel 

H  2 


100    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

'  It  is  not  my  disposition ',  said  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in 
reference  to  Vattel  and  his  predecessors, 

*  to  over-rate  the  authority  of  this  class  of  writers,  or  to  con- 
sider authority  in  any  case  as  a  substitute  for  reason.  But 
these  eminent  writers  were  at  least  necessarily  impartial. 
Their  weight,  as  bearing  testimony  to  general  sentiment  and 
civilised  usage,  receives  a  new  accession  from  every  statesman 
who  appeals  to  their  writings,  and  from  every  year  in  which 
no  contrary  practice  is  established  or  hostile  principles  avowed. 
Their  works  are  thus  attested  by  successive  generations  to  be 
records  of  the  customs  of  the  best  times,  and  depositories  of 
the  deliberate  and  permanent  judgments  of  the  more  en- 
lightened part  of  mankind.  Add  to  this,  that  their  authority 
is  usually  invoked  by  the  feeble,  and  despised  by  those  who 
are  strong  enough  to  need  no  aid  from  moral  sentiment, 
and  to  bid  defiance  to  justice.  I  have  never  heard  their 
principles  questioned,  but  by  those  whose  flagitious  policy 
they  had  by  anticipation  condemned.'  ^ 

It  is  a  relief  to  the  student  of  history  and  the  appraiser  of 
actual  policy  to  pass  from  the  qualified  naturalism  of  Vattel 
to  the  clear-voiced  positivism  of  G.  F.  von  Martens.  The 
change  is  as  bracing  as  a  course  of  The  Federalist  after  a  con- 
siderable dose  of  The  Social  Contract.  It  is  highly  appropriate 
that  the  author  of  the  Precis  du  Droit  des  Gens  moderne  should 
be  also  the  originator  of  the  best  Collection  of  Treaties  ;  and 
the  attitude  of  mind  he  brought  to  bear  on  his  analysis  and 
exposition  of  the  law  of  nations  is  almost  sufficiently  revealed 
in  the  full  title  of  his  work.  The  work,  which  was  first  pub- 
lished in  the  year  before  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution, 

was  put  on  the  question  of  Saxony  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  and  on  the 
question  of  the  annexation  of  Genoa  to  the  Kingdom  of  Sardinia  in  Sir  James 
Mackintosh's  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons,  April  27,  181 5:  History^ 
426-7,490-1  ;  Mackintosh's  Miscellaneous  Works  (1851),  703-4,  and  foot- 
note. 
*  Speech,  April  27,  181 5. 


Juristic  Literature  loi 

was  entitled  Precis  du  Droit  des  Gens  moderne,  fonde  sur  les 
Traites  et  VUsage.^  It  might  well  appear,  as  he  admitted 
in  1801,  in  the  Preface  to  the  second  French  edition  of  his 
work,  that  the  European  convulsions  resulting  from  the 
Revolution  in  France,  and  that  the  triumph  of  might  which 
these  convulsions  seemed  to  make  manifest  and  even  to  be 
justifying  by  events,  had  cut  away  the  ground  in  standpoint 
and  reasoning  that  had  been  appropriate  enough  before  the 
bursting  of  the  storm  in  1789.  Even  in  the  Preface,  written  in 
1820,  to  the  third  edition,  the  author  could  still,  however, 
record  his  tribute  to  the  immutable  principles  of  natural  law 
which  serves  as  the  basis  of  international  rights.  But  his  work 
was  not  rendered  obsolete,  just  because  even  from  its  first 
inception  it  was  designed  to  be  of  use  in  the  practice  of  affairs, 
and  for  the  author  that  claim  may  be  made  which  was  put 
forward  for  himself  by  the  hard  student  of  fact  and  observer  of 
forces  and  power  :  writing  for  such  as  can  see  his  meaning,  he 
deemed  it  the  more  feasible  course  to  be  taken  in  tow  by  the 
truth  showing  itself  in  accomplished  facts,  than  to  follow  vain 
imaginings.2  '  You  are  a  teacher  of  public  law ;  that  will 
have  to  be  modernized.  Does  not  public  law  consist  to-day 
simply  in  the  right  of  the  stronger  ?  '     Thus  was  Martens 

^  The  full  title  is  not  given  by  Verge  in  his  edition  (Paris,  2  vols.,  1858). 
The  work  was  developed  from  a  work  written  in  Latin  by  the  author,  and 
published  in  1785.  An  edition  in  German,  translated  by  the  author, 
appeared  in  1796;  a  second  edition  in  French  in  1801,  a  third  in  1820, 
a  fourth  in  1831,  with  notes  by  Pinhciro-Ferreira.  The  edition  of  M.  Ch. 
Verge  is  the  fifth  in  French.  An  English  translation  made  by  William 
Cobbett — in  parts  a  paraphrase — was  published  at  Philadelphia  in  1794, 
and,  according  to  Cobbett  himself,  was  subscribed  to  by  the  President, 
the  Vice-President,  and  every  member  of  the  Congress  ('  Advertisement 
to  the  first  London  edition  ').  Cobbett's  translation  was  published  in 
England  in  1802  for  the  first  time  ;  a  fourth  edition  appeared  in  1829. 

^  The  Prince,  ch.  1 5. 


102   The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

addressed  by  Napoleon  when  he  made  his  hurried  visit  to  the 
Congress  of  Rastatt,  the  phantom  Congress  with  tragic  sequel ; 
and  Martens  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  publicists  who  could 
disentangle  truth  from  exaggerations  and  phantasies  in  the 
claims  of  might  and  conquerors,  as  far  as  truth  is  seen  in  the 
working  of  its  way  through  the  accomplished  fact,  if  it  give  not 
the  lie  to  reason  in  a  manner  too  point-blank  for  rational  beings. 
The  character  and  scope  of  Martens'  book  are  very  well 
shown  in  the  general  plan  of  the  work  as  it  was  stated  by  him 
in  the  Preface  to  the  first  edition.  It  was  necessary  to  take 
a  view  of  the  different  nations  of  which  Europe  is  composed. 
He  examines  the  question  how  far  and  in  what  light  they  may 
be  regarded  as  parts  of  a  whole,  and  this  question  could  not 
be  determined  wdthout  considering  the  effect  of  a  diversity 
of  dignity,  power,  constitution,  and  religion.  This  inquiry 
he  looked  upon  as  the  natural  starting-point  for  an  under- 
standing of  the  laws  {droits)  which  custom  and  treaties  have 
established  in  Europe,  and  it  forms  the  subject-matter  of  the 
first  book  of  his  treatise.  Any  student  of  constitutions  and 
politics  could  to-day  append  his  notes  of  acquired  knowledge 
and  his  mental  reservations  to  these  preliminary,  yet  essential, 
disquisitions.  But  they  are  usually  practical,  terse,  and  pointed, 
like  these  few  words  on  democracies  : 

*  Dans  les  Etats  purement  democratiques,  le  peuple,  en 
reunissant  en  ses  mains  les  trois  pouvoirs,^  est  despote ;  il 
pent  plus  que  le  monarque  le  plus  absolu  :  il  peut  annuler  sa 
constitution  ;  et  le  pouvoir  le  plus  arbitraire  exerce  sur  ses 
membres  se  couvre  du  voile  de  la  volonte  de  tous.'  ^ 

His  special  subject  is  the  positive  law  of  nations — ^the  whole 
of  the  rights  and  obligations  actually  established  between 
nations.  What  has  become  a  law  in  the  intercourse  of  two  or 
three  or  even  the  majority  of  the  Powers  of  Europe,  whether 

^  Legislative,  executive,  judicative.  '  Book  i,  ch.  iii,  §  z8. 


Juristic  Literature  103 

by  treaty  or  from  custom,  need  not  establish  rights  and  obHga- 
tions  for  the  other  Powers.  Still,  by  comparing  the  treaties 
that  the  Powers  of  Europe  have  made  among  themselves,  one 
with  another,  we  are  led  to  certain  principles  that  have  been 
adopted  almost  universally  by  Powers  that  have  made  treaties 
on  the  same  subject.  Similarly  with  regard  to  custom  :  when 
a  custom  has  been  respected  by  the  majority  of  the  Powers  of 
Europe,  especially  of  the  great  Powers,  its  adoption  by  other 
Powers  becomes  easy,  if  it  is  at  all  applicable  to  them.  As 
much  cannot  be  said  of  express  conventions.  Still,  it  is  often 
the  case  that  a  treaty  made  by  two  or  more  Powers  serves  as 
a  model  for  treaties  of  the  same  kind  to  be  made  by  other 
Powers.  What  is  done  by  one  Power  in  virtue  of  treaty  is 
observed  in  others  as  custom.  It  may  be  that  in  certain 
matters  the  rule  is  founded  on  treaty  for  some  States,  and  on 
custom  for  others.^ 

The  importance  assigned  by  Martens  to  treaties  as  an  assured, 
though  in  itself  imperfect,  foundation  of  rights  and  obligations 
is  the  feature  of  his  work  that  most  emphatically  commends  it 
to  the  student  of  history.  He  alludes  with  special  approval 
to  those  of  his  precursors,  like  Leibnitz,^  who  have  based  their 
knowledge  and  reasoning  upon  treaties  and  other  public  acts. 
His  habit  of  mind  and  point  of  view  are  shown  very  clearly 
and  strikingly  in  the  classes  of  books  that  he  holds  to  be  necessary 
for  those  who  study  the  positive  Law  of  Nations ;  and  his 
citation  of  works  ^  still  has  considerable  independent  value. 
The  following  classes  of  books  are,  he  thought,  necessary  : 
collections    of   treaties ;     collections   of   other   public   acts ;  * 

*  Especially  Introduction,  §  7,  vol.  i,  pp.  47-8,  of  the  ed.  of  1858. 

*  Codex  luris  Gentium  Diplomaticus  (i  693). 

'  i,  pp.  68-76,  ed.  1858.  See,  further,  the  useful  Bibliograpbie  raisonnee, 
ii,  pp.  385-436. 

*  e.g.  Lamberty,  Memoires  pour  servir  d  Vbistoire  du  dix-buitieme  Steele, 


104    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

political  journals  ^ ;  histories  and  biographies ;  memoires  of 
ambassadors  ;  systematic  treatises,  dissertations  and  miscel- 
laneous writings  on  the  Law  of  Nations. 

On  the  Balance  of  Power  Martens  writes  tersely  and  with 
pertinence.  In  all  ages  nations  have  looked  with  jealous  eyes 
on  the  disproportionate  aggrandizement  of  any  one  of  their 
number.  But  it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  the  rivalry 
of  the  House  of  Austria  and  the  Kings  of  France,  that  the 
principle  had  its  origin  as  a  considered  basis  of  action,  assuming, 
no  doubt,  various  guises,  but  without  ever  entirely  losing  sight 
of  the  end  in  view.*  From  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
Great  Britain  had  been  a  leader  in  guarding  this  principle 
as  though  it  were  one  of  the  accepted  principles  of  the  Law  of 
Nations.  The  principle  may  be  applied  also  in  its  particular 
bearings  on  parts  of  Europe  or  of  the  world.  There  may  be 
a  balance  of  power  among  Powers  for  the  east  of  Europe,  or 
the  west,  or  the  north,  or  the  south.  There  may  be  a  balance 
among  the  States  of  Italy,  or  those  of  Germany.  Questions 
may  be  raised  of  a  colonial  balance  in  America,  and  of  a  maritime 
balance.  It  is  not  merely  the  acquisition  of  territory  that 
needs  to  be  watched.  There  are  other  ways  in  which  the 
equilibrium  may  be  disturbed.  Alliances  between  powerful 
States  may  compromise  the  existing  security,  or  a  State  which 

contenant  les  negociations,  traites,  etc.,  concernant  les  affaires  d'etat,  for  the 
first  half  of  the  century,  14  vols.  (1724  sqq.). 

*  e.g.  Die  europiiiscbe  Fatna :  Le  Mercure  bistorique  et  politique ; 
Staatsarchiv, 

^  The  following  works  had  influence  In  shaping  thought  on  the  principle 
of  a  balance  down  to  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution  :  Lc  baron 
deir  Isola,  Le  bouclier  de  V Etal  et  de  justice,  1667;  Lehmann,  Trutina 
Europae,  1710;  Kahle,  De  Trutina  Europae,  quae  vulgo  appellatur  'die 
Balance',  praecipua  belli  et  pacis  norma,  1744  ;  Justi,  Cbimaire  des  Gleicb- 
gewicbts  von  Europa,  1758;  Hertzberg,  Dissertation  sur  la  veritable 
ricbesse  dcs  ICtats,  la  Balance  dtt  commerce  ct  celle  du  pottvoir,  1786. 


Juristic  Literature  105 

has  served  as  a  useful  counterpoise  may  be  so  enfeebled  as  to 
affect  the  situation  not  less  than  the  aggrandizement  of  one 
of  the  Powers. 1 

The  effect  of  the  Wars  of  the  French  Revolution  and  of 
Napoleon  on  the  authority  to  be  accorded  to  a  law  of  nations 
was  such  as  to  suspend  the  growth  of  international  understand- 
ing without  destroying  the  idea  of  balance.  Two  opinions 
expressed  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  may  be 
taken  as  typical  of  the  judgements  of  men  of  learning  and  of 
thought  and  of  wise  and  hopeful  outlook  after  the  effects  of 
the  convulsions  of  twenty-five  years  had  spent  themselves. 

'  La  revolution  frangaise  et  I'empire,'  says  M.  Ch.  Verge, 
the  editor  of  Martens's  Precis  du  Droit  des  Gens  moderne^ 
'  et  les  guerres  d'opinion  et  de  rivalite  politique  qui  signalerent 
cette  periode  d'histoire  moderne  suspendirent  les  progres 
de  la  conciliation  europeenne,  sans  miner  I'idee  de  I'equilibre. 
Plus  d'une  fois,  I'aveuglement  des  passions  entraina  des  viola- 
tions du  droit  des  gens  :  I'assassinat  des  plenipotentiaires 
frangais  a  Rastadt,  le  blocus  continental,  la  predominance 
menagante  de  la  France  et  son  abaissement  exagere  par  les 
rancunes  et  les  coleres  survivant  a  la  chute  de  I'empire  etaient 
de  manifestes  derogations  aux  regies  memes  de  la  guerre 
legitime  ;  mais,  des  18 14,  malgre  les  ressentiments  issus  de 
vingt-cinq  ans  de  lutte,  on  s'appliqua  a  raffermir  par  des  traites 
les  principes  du  droit  et  a  assurer  le  maintien  de  la  paix  par 
une  sorte  de  contrat  europeen.  Le  temps  devait  completer 
cette  ceuvre,  il  la  rectifiera  progressivement.' 

'  The  danger  of  universal  monarchy,'  wrote  Wheaton  in  his 
History  of  the  Law  of  'Nations^  *  once,  perhaps,  vainly  appre- 

"^  Martens,  Bk.  iv,  ch.  i. 

*  Edition  of  1858,  i.  xvii,  in  a  dissertation,  pp.  i-Ivii,  on  '  Le  Droit  des 
Gens  avant  et  depuis  1789*. 
^  p.  422. 


io6    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

hended  from  the  ambitious  designs  of  the  houses  of  Austria 
and  Bourbon,  was  at  last  realized  from  the  genius  of  one  man, 
who  wielded  with  unexampled  energy  the  vast  natural  resources 
of  France,  whose  power  of  aggression  had  been  fearfully 
augmented  by  revolution  and  conquest.  This  long  protracted 
and  violent  struggle  was  too  often  marked  in  its  course  by  the 
most  flagrant  violations  of  the  positive  law  of  nations,  almost 
always  accompanied,  however,  by  a  formal  recognition  of  its 
general  maxims,  and  excused  or  palliated  on  the  ground  of 
overruling  necessity,  or  the  example  of  others  justifying  a  resort 
to  retaliation.  The  mighty  convulsion,  in  which  all  the  moral 
elements  of  European  society  seemed  to  be  mingled  in  confusion, 
at  last  subsided,  leaving  behind  it  fewer  traces  of  its  destructive 
progress  than  might  have  been  expected,  so  far  as  regards 
a  general  respect  for  the  rules  of  justice  acknowledged  by 
civilized  communities  in  their  mutual  intercourse.' 

Of  Henry  Wheaton's  Elements  of  International  LawMitle  need 
be  said.  It  is  a  standard  work,  on  which  the  author's  History 
may  be  taken  as  the  best  commentary.  The  work  was  pub- 
lished first  in  1836  at  Philadelphia  and  at  London.  It  was 
published  again  at  Philadelphia  in  1844.  Later  it  was  issued 
in  French,  at  Leipzig  in  1848,  and  at  Paris  in  1852  and  1853. 
The  first  English  edition  proper  was  published  at  London  in 
1878  ;  the  fifth*  was  published  in  1916.  In  the  words  of  a 
German  appreciation  of  Wheaton  as  the  historian  of  Inter- 
national Law,  the  author  united  the  accomplishments  of  a  public 
jurist  and  of  a  practical  diplomat — of  the  school  of  Franklin 
and  Jeflferson — ^to  those  of  a  scholar  with  an  established  reputa- 

^  Edited  by  C.  Philllpson.  The  historical  portions  have  been  retained 
and  expanded.  Examples  of  conduct  from  recent  wars  have  been  added, 
and  the  references  to  cases  have  been  increased.  It  is  necessary  for  the 
unwary  reader  to  distinguish  between  the  onginai  text  and  the  editor's 
additions. 


Juristic  Literature  107 

tion.^  Similar  in  its  content  and  spirit  is  the  appreciation  of 
a  highly  qualified  English  authority  of  to-day.  In  Wheaton's 
Elements^  says  Sir  Frederick  Pollock  in  an  Introduction  to  the 
fifth  English  edition  of  the  work,  those  principles  that  make 
up  the  Law  of  Nations  and  that,  'down  to  the  present  war,' have 
been  '  fairly  well  observed  by  most  nations  and  ostensibly 
respected  by  all,  in  spite  of  lacking  any  defined  sanction  ', 
have  been  expounded  '  on  a  more  spacious  historical  scene  and 
with  more  detailed  illustration  than  can  be  found  in  most 
modern  text-books.  Wheaton  stands  for  the  opinions  received 
or  allowed  among  the  best  instructed  publicists  during  the 
period  following  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  sometimes  called  the 
Forty  Years'  Peace.'  He  had  the  qualifications  of  '  a  good 
scholarly  lawyer  of  the  first  generation  of  American  indepen- 
dence ' ;  and  these,  added  to  his  combination  of  forensic, 
judicial,  and  diplomatic  experience,  *  gave  him  almost  unique 
advantage  in  handling  this  subject  '.^ 

Of  more  recent  works  on  International  Law  only  three  need 
here  be  mentioned — ^that  of  Sir  Robert  Phillimore,  that  of 
Sir  Travers  Twiss,  and  that  of  Mr.  W.  E.  Hall.  PhiUimore's 
Commentaries  upon  International  Law — a  work  in  four  volumes — 
appeared  first  in  the  years  1854-61.  A  third  edition  was  pub- 
lished from  1879  ^^  1889.  In  a  Preface,  repeated  from  the  first 
edition,  the  author  gives  a  sketch  (pp.  xv-xxvi)  of  the  history 
of  International  Law,  and  proceeds  to  a  history  (pp.  xxvi-1) 
of  International  Jurisprudence  in  England.  For  the  work  of 
Grotius  he  claims  that  '  no  uninspired  work  has  more  largely 
contributed  to  the  welfare  of  the  Commonwealth  of  States. 
It  is  a  monument  which  can  only  perish  with  the  civilized 
intercourse  of  nations,  of  which  it  has  laid  down  the  master 
principles  with  a  master's  hand.     Grotius  first  awakened  the 

1  See  Kellen,  Henry  Wheaton  (Boaton,  1902),  p.  45. 

2  See  pp.  xxxix-xliv  of  the  fifth  EngUsh  edition  (191 6)  of  the  Elements. 


io8    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

conscience  of  Governments  to  the  Christian  sense  of  inter- 
national duty  '  (p.  xxiv). 

For  the  student  of  history,  and  of  International  Law  in  its 
historical  development  and  historical  aspects,  the  following 
parts  of  the  Commentaries  are  especially  useful :  (i)  vol.  i, 
pt.  i,  ch.  vi,  pp.  45-61  on  Treaties ;  vol.  i,  pt.  iii,  ch.  vi, 
pp.  257-62  on  the  Narrow  Seas,  as  distinguished  from  the 
Ocean  (with  references  to  the  contentions  of  Grotius  and 
Selden)  ;  vol.  i,  pt.  iv,  ch.  i,  pp.  553-638  on  the  Principle  of 
Intervention,  and  more  especially,  in  pp.  574-614,  on  the 
Balance  of  Power  as  a  Corollary  of  the  Right  of  Self-Defence, 
with  historical  allusions ;  vol.  ii,  pt.  viii,  on  the  International 
Status  of  Foreign  Spiritual  Powers,  especially  on  the  Pope, 
pp.  343-540,  and  more  especially  ch.  v,  pp.  401-14,  the  Inter- 
national Status  of  the  Papacy  between  the  period  of  the 
promulgation  of  the  canon  law  and  the  Council  of  Trent, 
and  ch.  vi,  pp.  415-26,  from  1563  to  1870. 

The  author  interprets  in  prudent  terms  the  doctrine  of  the 
Balance  of  Power.^  He  lays  stress  on  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht 
as  marking  the  time  from  which  '  the  recognition  of  the  system 
of  balance  '  may  be  dated  ;  and  the  language  of  the  treaty 
can  be  cited  as  evidence  of  the  importance  ascribed  to  the 
restoration  of  the  balance.  The  treaty  was  made  ad  conservan- 
dum  in  Europa  equilibrium.^  The  doctrine  '  certainly  is  liable 
to  abuse,  but,  fairly  explained,  means  no  more  than  the  right 
of  timely  provision  of  a  probable  danger '.' 

The  Law  of  Nations  of  Sir  Travers  Twiss  was  published  in 
1 861-3,  in  two  volumes,  of  which  the  first  treats  of  the  rights 
and  duties  of  nations  in  time  of  peace,  and  the  second  of  their 
rights  and  duties  in  time  of  war.  A  second  edition  of  the 
second  volume  appeared  in  1875,  and  of  the  first  volume  in 

^  See  especially  Commentaries^  vol.  i  (3rd  ed.),  pp.  580,  581,  614. 
'  Koch,  ii.  q2.  '  Commentaries^  i.  p.  580. 


Juristic  Literature  109 

1884.  The  second  edition  of  the  volume  on  War  contained 
(pp.  xix-xliv)  '  An  Introductory  Juridical  Review  of  the 
Results  of  Recent  Wars  '  and  an  Appendix  (pp.  5 1 1-608)  of 
Treaties  and  other  documents — ^the  Congress  of  Paris,  1856 
(pp.  511-18),  the  Declaration  of  Paris,  1856  (pp.  518-23)^; 
the  Convention  of  Geneva,  1864  (pp.  524-36)  ;  the  Con- 
vention of  Geneva,  1868  (pp.  536-57)  ;2  the  Declaration 
of  St.  Petersburg,  1868,  '  relative  a  I'interdiction  des  balles 
explosibles  en  temps  de  guerre'  (pp.  557-61);^  Protocols  of 
the  Conferences  of  London,  1871  (pp.  561-78)  ;  Treaty  of 
London,  1871  (pp.  578-89)  ;  Convention  of  London  between 
Russia  and  Turkey,  1871  (pp.  589-93)  ;  the  Foreign  Enlistment 
Act,  1870  (pp.  594-608). 

A  very  fine  tribute  is  rendered  to  Grotius  in  the  Introduction 
to  the  first  volume.  '  It  was  an  apt  remark  on  the  part  of  his 
Excellency  Kuo-Taj-in,  the  first  Envoy-Extraordinary  and 
Minister-Plenipotentiary  accredited  from  China  to  the  Court 
of  St.  James,  that  he  found  the  European  Law  of  Nations  to 
be  a  "  very  young  Law  "  ;  but  he  also  observed  that  since 
the  age  of  Grotius  wars  had  been  less  frequent  in  Europe,  and 
less  sanguinary.'  The  concluding  words  must  now  be  summarily 
dismissed.  But  the  appreciation  by  Sir  Travers  Twiss  himself 
is  still  valid.  The  treatise  of  Grotius,  he  tells  us,  was  subjected 
to  much  opposition  during  its  author's  life-time,  and  both  in 
England  and  on  the  Continent  there  have  been  critics  who  have 
objected  to  both  the  method  and  the  doctrine  of  Grotius. 
They  have  maintained  that  the  maxims  which  he  inculcates 
as  founded  on  the  equality  of  nations '  went  to  destroy  the  three 
cardinal  principles  of  the  Civil  Law,  often  quoted  as  "  the 
Ulpianic  precepts ",  to  wit,  "  Honeste  vivere,  Alterum  non 

^  For  the  proceedings  of  the  Congress  and  the  treaties  resulting,  see 
Martens,  Nouveau  Recueil  general  des  Traites,  xv,  pp.  700-94. 

^  Martens,  xviii,  p.  607.  ^  Martens,  xviii,  p.  450. 


no    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

laedere,Suumcuiquetribuere" '.  Further,  it  has  been  contended 
that  the  doctrine  of  a  Law  of  Nations,  as  resting  upon  the 
common  agreement  of  mankind,  was  merely  an  empty  fiction, 
to  which  nothing  corresponds  in  fact.  But,  says  Sir  Travers 
Twiss,  Grotius  did  not  intend  to  set  up  a  rule  like  that  which 
theologians  have  termed  the  Golden  Rule  of  Vincentius  Lirinen- 
sis,  *  Quod  semper  et  ubique  et  ab  omnibus  ' ;  and  he  quotes 
the  words  of  Grotius  himself  :  *  '  There  are  two  ways  of 
investigating  the  Law  of  Nations.  We  ascertain  this  Law, 
either  by  arguing  from  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  man- 
kind, or  by  observing  what  is  generally  approved  by  all  Nations, 
or  at  least  by  all  civilized  Nations.  The  former  is  the  more 
certain  of  the  two,  but  the  latter  will  lead  us,  if  not  with 
certainty,  yet  with  a  high  degree  of  probabiUty,  to  the  know- 
ledge of  this  Law  ;  for  such  an  universal  approbation  must 
arise  from  some  universal  principle,  and  this  principle  can  be 
nothing  else  than  the  common  sense  or  reason  of  mankind.' 

Two  opinions  have  already  been  cited  regarding  the  effects 
of  the  upheavals  of  the  era  of  the  French  Revolution  and 
Napoleon.  Even  more  emphatic  in  its  favourable  view  is  the 
estimate  of  Sir  Travers  Twiss.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  he 
remarks,  that  '  in  accordance  with  the  maxim  "  La  guerre 
enfante  le  Droit  ",  the  twenty  years  of  almost  uninterrupted 
warfare,  during  which  the  First  Napoleon  endeavoured  to 
erect  an  Empire,  only  second  to  that  of  Charlemagne,  on  the 
foundations  of  the  French  Republic  of  1793,  evoked  a  spirit 
of  combined  action  among  the  Nations  of  Europe,  cemented 
by  a  carefully  considered  system  of  General  Treaties,  the 
outcome  of  which  has  been  an  European  Concert  of  Public 
Law '.  The  result  has  been  that  each  State,  without  surrender- 
ing or  ignoring  its  special  interests,  has  also  interests  that  belong 
to  it  in  common  with  the  general  body  of  States.  '  The 
1  Bk.  1,  ch.  I,  §  3. 


Juristic  Literature  iii 

natural  independence  of  the  individual  States  has  been,  in 
certain  matters,  subordinated  to  the  general  welfare  of  the 
European  community.'  This  result  has  not  been  brought 
about  without  involving  from  time  to  time  departures  from 
established  usage.  The  method  of  achieving  the  result  has 
been  that  of  consultations  among  the  leading  European  Powers 
assembled  in  Congress,  and  recording  in  the  Protocols  of  their 
Conferences  the  principles  upon  which  their  conclusions  have 
been  based,  to  which,  moreover,  it  has  been  usual  to  invite 
the  adherence  of  the  Powers  not  themselves  represented  at 
the  Congress.!  When  Sir  Travers  Tvnss,  writing  in  1863, 
fixed  his  mind  on  War  and  the  Rights  of  War,  a  like  spirit  of 
optimism  prevailed  with  him.  History,  he  said,  in  its  relation 
to  the  History  of  War,  may  truly  be  regarded  as  Philosophy 
teaching  by  example  ;  and  the  wider  and  more  complete  the 
historical  survey  the  more  irresistible  will  be  the  conclusion, 
that  '  the  employment  of  Force  on  the  part  of  Nations  in  the 
prosecution  of  Right  against  other  Nations  has  become  subject 
to  Rules,  which  are  in  accordance  with  Reason,  and  have  the 
Common  Weal  for  their  object  '.^ 

The  work  of  Sir  Travers  Twiss  has  lately  been  described  as 
'  a  necessary  book  for  the  student ' ;  ^  and  the  fact  that  the 
judgement  comes  from  one  who  has  himself  been  busied  with 
diplomacy,  taken  together  with  the  publication  of  a  French 
translation  of  the  book  twenty  years  ago,  gives  force  to  the 
estimate.  We  are  concerned  here  more  especially  with  such 
parts  of  the  author's  subject  and  his  treatment  of  them  as  are 

^  Introduction  to  second  edition  of  the  volume  on  Peace,  pp.  xxx-xxxi. 
For  an  appreciation  of  the  *  high  vocation  '  of  the  diplomatist,  and  of  the 
purpose  and  ideal  in  the  foundation  of  the  Chichele  Professorship  of  '  Inter- 
national Law  and  Diplomacy  ',  see  pp.  xxxvi-vii. 

2  Preface  to  the  first  edition  of  the  volume  on  War. 

^  Satow,  Diplomatic  Practice  (191 7),  ii.  371. 


112    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

of  value  to  the  student  of  history.  Attention  may  be  directed 
particularly,  in  the  volume  on  Peace,  to  ch.  iii  on  National 
State-Systems  of  Christendom,  ch.  iv  on  the  Ottoman  Empire, 
ch.  v  on  the  Kingdoms  of  the  Lower  Danube,  and  ch.  xiii  on 
the  Right  of  Treaty  ;  and  in  the  volume  on  War  to  ch.  v  on 
Rights  of  a  Belligerent  on  the  High  Seas  (with  an  interesting 
historical  retrospect),^  and  ch.  vii  on  Contraband  of  War. 

Of  Mr.  W.  E.  Hall's  Treatise  of  International  LaWy  published 
in  1880,  it  has  been  said  by  the  author  of  a  recent  work  of 
distinction  on  the  subject  that  it  '  at  once  won  the  attention 
of  the  whole  world  ;  it  is  one  of  the  best  books  on  the  subject 
that  have  ever  been  written  '.^  The  author's  attachment  to 
facts,  the  distance  by  which  he  is  separated  from  the  deductive 
and  transcendental  school  of  writers  on  the  subject,  and  the 
soundness  of  his  judgement  ^  make  his  work  a  natural  and 
serviceable  ally  of  the  historian  and  of  the  student  of  policy. 
An  Appendix  on  '  The  Formation  of  the  Conception  of 
International  Law '  may  well  be  taken  as  a  starting-point  by 
the  reader  of  Wheaton's  History  or  of  substitutes  for  that  work. 
For  the  historical  student  the  follovdng  parts  of  the  book  are  of 

•  For  example,  §  74  on  the  office  of  Admiral,  §  75  on  Admiralty  juris- 
diction of  Nations,  §  76  on  Customs  of  the  Sea,  and  §§  83,  84,  85  on  '  system- 
atic departures  from  the  Rule  of  the  Consolato  del  Mar '. 

•  L.  Oppenheim,  International  Law  (1907),  vol.  i,  p.  93.  Mr.  Oppen- 
heim's  work  is,  on  the  whole,  a  little  more  easily  read  than  Hall's.  The 
following  parts  have  value  for  the  historical  student :  vol.  i  (2nd  ed., 
1 912),  pp.  45-59  on  development  of  international  law  before  Grotius, 
and  pp.  59-83  on  development  after  Grotius  ;  pp.  1 88-99  °"  intervention 
(the  Monroe  Doctrine,  pp.  196-9)  ;  pp.  315-20  on  freedom  of  the  open  sea; 
vol.  ii,  pp.  347-60  on  neutrality,  from  the  Middle  Ages.  An  Appendix  gives 
the  texts  of  the  Declaration  of  Paris,  1 856  ;  the  Geneva  Convention,  1 906  ; 
the  Final  Act  of  the  Second  Hague  Peace  Conference,  1 907 ;  the  Declaration 
of  London,  1 907,  including  the  Report  of  the  Drafting  Conunittce. 

•  Satow,  Diplomatic  Practice^  ii,  p.  371. 


Juristic  Literature  113 

value,  the  pages  being  those  of  the  sixth  edition,^  published  in 
1909  :  pp.  1-16,  on  the  views  held  as  to  the  origin  and  nature 
of  International  Law  (with  foot-notes,  pp.  2-3),  and  on  the 
value  of  treaties  (how  far  are  they  expressive  of  a  movement  of 
thought  ?)  ;  pp.  140-51,  on  the  extent  to  which  the  sea  can 
be  appropriated  (a  consideration  of  facts  and  conditions  from 
the  sixteenth  to  the  nineteenth  century)  ;  pp.  337-52,  on  the 
interpretation  of  treaties,  their  effects,  execution,  and  extinction, 
with  historical  illustrations  ;  pp.  373-4,  on  wars  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  '  begun  '  without  '  declara- 
tions '  ;  pp.  571-87,  on  the  growth  of  the  law  affecting  belli- 
gerent and  neutral  States  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  ; 
pp.  631-4,  on  '  the  rule  of  the  war  of  1756 ',  and  its  extension 
in  1793  ;  pp.  638-48,  on  contraband  from  the  seventeenth 
to  the  nineteenth  century  ;  pp.  705-6,  with  foot-notes,  on 
blockade  ;  and  pp.  715-22,  on  neutral  ships  and  enemy  goods. 
A  valuable  feature  of  Mr.  Hall's  work  is  the  considerable 
number  of  references  it  gives  to  State  Papers. 

The  standard  work  on  cases  in  International  Law  is  that  of 
Martens,^  Causes  ceUbres  du  droit  des  gens^  first  published  in 
1827.  Mr.  Pitt  Cobbett's  Leading  Cases  and  Opinions  on 
International  Law  *  is  well  arranged,  but  at  only  a  few  points 
is  of  value  to  the  historical  student  :  pp.  144-8,  on  the  Silesian 
Loan  ^ — a  lucid  exposition  ;   pp.  292-5,  on  neutral  trade  from 

^  Edited  by  Atlay,  pp.  xxiv+  768. 

2  Charles  de  Martens,  nephew  of  G.  F.  von  Martens,  and  author  of  Le 
Guide  diplomatique. 

*  2  vols.  (Leipzig),  1827,  and  Nouvelles  causes  celebres,  2  vols.,  1844. 
A  second  edition  of  the  work  was  published  in  five  volumes  in  1858-61. 

*  1885;  2nd  ed.  1892,  pp.  xxiv  +  385. 

'  Martens,   Causes  celebres,  ii.   97.     See   also    Sir   Ernest    Satow,   The 
Silesian  Loan  and  Frederick  the  Great,  191 5,  pp.  448.    There  is  a  chapter  of 
twenty  pages  on  '  Prize  Law  in  the  first  half  of  the  Eighteenth  Century '. 
2224  I 


114     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

about  1800  to  1856  ;  pp.  330-3,  on  the  rule  of  1756  (Sir  William 
Scott's  judgement  in  the  '  Immanuel '  case,  with  a  very  clear 
note  on  the  rule) ;  and  pp.  3 30-40, on  the  doctrine  of  continuous 
voyages  (cases  of  1806  and  1863). 

The  connexion  between  international  law,  diplomacy,  and 
the  government  of  the  society  of  nations  has  been  thus  ex- 
pounded in  the  course  of  a  concise  and  highly  useful  essay 
on  'The  Modern  Law  of  Nations  and  the  Prevention  of  War  '  i^ 
*  Official,  judicial,  and  other  learned  persons  who  cannot 
conceive  authority  divested  of  official  sanction  have  gravely 
pointed  out  that  Grotius  and  his  successors,  not  being  legislators, 
could  not  make  law.  More  than  twenty  years  ago.  Sir  Henry 
Maine  gave  the  right  answer  :  "  What  we  have  to  notice,"  he 
said,  "  is  that  the  founders  of  International  Law,  though  they 
did  not  create  a  sanction,  created  a  law-abiding  sentiment. 
They  diffused,  among  sovereigns,  and  the  literate  classes  in 
communities,  a  strong  repugnance  to  the  neglect  or  breach 

There  is  a  section  on  the  Prussian  diplomatic  service  at  the  opening  of  the 
fifteenth  chapter  ('  Reconciliation  of  George  II  and  Frederick  the  Great. 
Negotiations  through  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  and  then  through  Michell '). 
*  By  Sir  Frederick  Pollock  in  The  Cambridge  Modern  History,  vol.  xii 
(1910),  ch.  xxii,  pp.  711-12.  The  chapter  treats  of  the  Law  of  Nature  and 
the  Law  of  Nations,  of  the  influence  of  chivalry  and  the  Church,  of  Gentili, 
of  Hooker,  of  the  achievement  of  Grotius,  of  (i)  the  authority  of  writers, 
(2)  treaties  and  conventions,  and  (3)  the  embodiment  of  general  opinion  in 
the  usage  of  nations,  of  arbitration,  the  Hague  Conferences,  the  Concert 
of  Europe,  and  '  the  ideal  European  system  '.  '  It  would  seem  that  the 
formation  of  any  such  system  can  be  looked  for  only  when  the  political 
institutions  and  ideas  prevailing  in  the  chief  nations  of  the  world  have 
become  much  more  nearly  uniform  than  they  are  ;  and  it  is  far  from  clear 
that  the  present  tendency  is  to  approximate,  for  the  fashion — a  passing 
one,  let  us  hope — is  rather  to  exaggerate  national  and  racial  differences  * 
(p.  720). 


Juristic  Literature  115 

of  certain  rules  regulating  the  relations  and  actions  of  States. 
They  did  this  not  by  threatening  punishments,  but  by  the 
alternative  and  older  method, long  known  in  Europe  and  Asia,  of 
creating  a  strong  approval  of  a  certain  body  of  rules."  To  put 
it  in  a  sHghtly  different  way,  they  were  able  to  mould  the 
custom  of  princes  and  their  advisers  while  it  was  still  plastic ; 
and  it  took  form  as  a  real  though  imperfect  customary  law, 
not  a  mere  assemblage  of  moral  precepts.  Ever  since  the  time 
of  Grotius  these  questions  have  been  treated  as  belonging  to 
jurisprudence,  not  to  theology  or  casuistry,  and  have  been 
handled  in  the  manner  of  legal  argument  and  not  of  merely 
moral  persuasion.  It  may  be  and  often  is  disputed  what  is 
the  true  rule,  or  how  it  is  to  be  applied  in  particular  cases  ; 
but  the  rule,  ascertained  or  not  ascertained,  is  conceived  as 
an  ordinance  of  justice,  and  not  a  counsel  of  perfection.  Beyond 
the  domain  of  positive  duty  there  is  a  region  for  governments 
in  the  society  of  nations,  as  for  individual  citizens  within  a 
State,  where  rights  may  be  exercised  in  a  more  or  less  friendly 
spirit,  with  greater  or  less  consideration  for  the  convenience 
of  others,  equitably  or  with  insistence  on  the  letter  of  the  bond, 
stiffly  or  with  readiness  to  give  and  take  ;  and  no  formal 
ground  of  complaint  is  afforded  by  conduct  which,  though  it 
may  be  displeasing  or  barely  civil,  is  still  within  the  scope  of 
lawful  discretion  ;  as  in  municipal  jurisdiction  an  action  will 
not  lie  against  a  man  for  many  things  which  do  not  become 
the  character  of  an  amiable  neighbour.  In  this  region  the  skill 
and  tact  of  diplomatists  finds  much  of  its  every-day  work,  and 
by  no  means  the  least  important.' 


I  2 


Illustrations  of  Controversial  Literature  :   '  The 
Sovereignty  of  the  Sea  ' 

Two  of  the  best  subjects  of  this  class  for  study  are  the  origins 
of  *  the  rule  of  the  war  of  1756  ',  and  its  effects,  and  the  origins 
of  the  Continental  System  of  Napoleon.  But  we  shall  take  an 
example  of  a  still  more  special  kind — that  of  the  sovereignty 
of  the  British  or  '  Narrow  '  Seas.* 

Readers  of  Samuel  Pepys  will  remember  that  there  were 
issues  involved  in  the  claim  which  seemed  to  him  to  require 
patient  and  diligent  research.  '  I  am  now  full  of  study  about 
writing  something  about  our  making  of  strangers  strike  to  us 
at  sea  ;  and  so  am  altogether  reading  Selden  and  Grotius,  and 
such  other  authors  to  that  purpose.'  *  '  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Falcon- 
berge  to  look  whether  he  could,  out  of  Domesday  Book,  give  me 
any  thing  concerning  the  sea,  and  the  dominion  thereof  ; 
which  he  says  he  will  look  after.'  ^  *  I  am  upon  writing  a  little 
treatise  to  present  to  the  Duke,  about  our  privilege  in  the  seas, 
as  to  other  nations  striking  their  flag  to  us.'  * 

*  The  assertion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  seas ',  writes 
Mr.  Gardiner,®  '  meant  nothing  less  than  an  assertion  that  the 
whole  of  the  English  Channel  to  the  shores  of  France,  and  of 

*  For  an  account  of  the  subject  see  Walker,  History  of  the  Law  oj  Nations,, 
pp.  278-83;  Hall, /«/CT-«<j/»ona/ Law  (6th  ed.),  pp.  140-51 ;  and  Oppenheim, 
International  Law  (1905),  i,  pp.  300-8. 

*  December  15,  1661.  '  December  21,  1661. 

*  December  31,  1661. 

*  History  oj  England,  1603-42,  vol.  vii  (Cabinet  ed.),  358. 


*  The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea '  117 

the  North  Sea  to  the  shofes  of  Flanders  and  Holland,  was  as 
completely  under  the  dominion  of  the  King  of  England  as 
Kent  or  Yorkshire.  To  fish  in  those  waters,  or  even  to  navigate 
them  without  his  permission,  was  an  encroachment  on  his  rights.' 
'  Monstrous '  as  the  claim  was,  says  Mr.  Gardiner,  its  appeal 
to  the  English  contempt  of  foreigners  was  too  strong  to  be 
without  an  echo  in  the  hearts  of  Englishmen.  The  prepos- 
terousness  of  the  claim,  when  it  is  viewed  in  all  the  length 
and  breadth  of  its  extremest  pretensions,  may  be  admitted  as 
freely  and  denounced  as  severely  as  it  has  been  by  the  most 
accurate  and  dispassionate  of  the  historians  of  the  England  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  But  a  claim  which  has  attached 
to  it  a  considerable  history  and  a  vast  body  of  thought  and 
writing,  antecedent,  contemporary  and  subsequent,  and  which 
engaged  the  minds  of  two^  of  the  most  erudite  authors  of 
that  time,  by  whatsoever  motive  they  were  impelled  to  write, 
cannot  be  dismissed  as  unworthy  of  serious  and  even  exacting 
study.     The  purport  of  the  leading  works  in  the  history  of 

*  Grotius,  '  the  wondrous  child  '  and  scholar,  and  Selden,  '  the  glory  of 
England  '.  Grotius's  Mare  Liberum,  seu  de  iure,  quod  Batavis  competit  ad 
Indicana  commercta,  Dissertatio  was  published  anonymously  In  November 
1608.  It  formed  the  twelfth  chapter  of  his  work,  De  lure  Praedae,  which 
was  written  In  1604-5.  The  manuscript  of  this  work,  written  when  the 
author  was  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  was  not  discovered  till  1864. 
It  was  published  In  1868.  Grotius  studied  under  Scaliger  at  the  University 
of  Leyden,  which  he  entered  at  the  age  of  eleven.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
took  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  at  Orleans,  and  at  the  same  age  accom- 
panied an  embassy  to  the  French  Court.  He  thereupon  practised  law.  As 
a  lawyer  he  had  to  argue  In  favour  of  the  lawfulness  of  the  capture  of  a 
Portuguese  galleon  by  the  Dutch  East  India  Company.  In  his  written 
work  he  contended  that  the  sea  cannot  be  taken  into  possession  through 
'  occupation  '  and  cannot  be  made  State  property  :  the  sea  is  free  to  all : 
in  spite  of  Portuguese  interdictions  from  eastern  waters  the  Dutch  have 
a  right  to  navigation  and  commerce  with  the  Indies.  Cf.  De  lure  Belli 
ac  Pacts,  li,  c.  3. 


Ii8    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

the  subject,  whether  general  or  national  and  special,  is  lucidly, 
though  in  brief,  presented  by  M.  Ernest  Nys  in  the  chapter  on 
'  La  Liberie  des  Mers  '  in  his  work  Les  Origines  du  Droit 
international.  *  Le  droit  remain  range  la  mer  parmi  les  choses 
qui,  en  vertu  du  droit  naturel,  sont  communes  a  tous.  Au 
moyen  age,  des  que  le  commerce  maritime  prend  de  I'impor- 
tance,  d^s  qu'il  devient  Pun  des  grands  facteurs  de  la  richesse 
publique,  apparaissent  les  pretentions  des  gouvernements  sur 
certaines  mers.'  * 

Material  for  a  study  of  the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  interests  and  claims  of  England  in  the  seventeenth  century 
will  be  found  in  a  recently  published  work  on  The  Sovereignty 
of  the  Sea,'^  and  in  Gardiner's  History.^  The  volume  of  the 
Navy  Records  Society  on  Law  and  Custom  of  the  Sea  *  contains 
supplementary  material  of  historical  value. 

^  Nys  (1894),  p.  379.  See  Walker,  History,  i,  p.  246,  for  Vasquez,  a 
Spanish  official  (1509-66)  and  author  (1564) — a  precursor  of  Grotius  for 
Mare  Liberum ;  and  pp.  278-83  for  a  summary  of  Grotius's  book  thus 
entitled.  Grotius,  c.  vii,  alludes  to  Vasquez  (Vasquius)  as  '  decus  illud 
Hispaniae,  cuius  nee  in  explorando  iure  subtilitatem,  nee  in  docendo 
libertatem  umquam  desideres  '.  Vasquez  was  anticipated  by  the  Spanish 
theologian  and  Franciscan  monk,  Alphonso  de  Castro  (d.  in  1558),  in 
opposing  the  claims  of  the  Genoese  and  Venetians  to  prohibit  other  nations 
from  navigating  the  gulfs  or  bays  of  their  respective  seas.  See  Grotius, 
c.  vii ;  and  Nys,  p.  352. 

*  Fulton  (1911),  pp.  xxvi  +799. 

'  Especially  vol.  iii  (Cabinet  ed.),  pp.  164-5  (°"  Grotius);  vii,  pp.  357-8, 
viii,  p.  79,  and  154-5  (on  Selden)  ;  and  Tbe  History  of  the  Commontoealtb 
and  Protectorate,  vol.  ii  (Cabinet  ed.),  p.  1 72. 

*  Vol.  i,  1205-1648,  published  in  1915  :  see  pp.  484-90,  '  Reglement  of 
the  Narrow  Seas  ',  1634,  setting  forth  the  King  of  England's  Sovereignty 
in  the  four  seas — '  the  seas  commonly  called  the  four  English  seas  *  (see 
State  Papers,  Domestic,  cclxxix,  No.  18),  and  p.  509  on  the  salute  to  the 
flag — the  '  Vail '.  Article  19  in  the  Treaty  of  Breda,  1667,  and  Article  4  in 
the  Treaty  of  Westminster,  1674,  deal  with  the  Vail.  See  also,  for  Tromp's 
Memorandum,  Fulton,  Appendix  1,  p.  770. 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea*  119 

The  subject  had  much  attention  from  Alberico  Gentili, 
both  in  professional  practice,  when  he  was  an  advocate  of 
Spanish  claims  in  English  prize  courts,  and  in  his  posthumous 
work,  Advocationis  Hispanicae  Libri  Duo^  in  which  there  is 
a  defence  of  the  claims  of  sovereignty  asserted  by  English 
kings  over  the  British  seas ;  and  the  arguments  are  noteworthy 
as  coming  from  a  learned  Italian,  Professor  of  Civil  Law  at 
Oxford,  and  the  supplanter  of  Grotius  as  the  reputed  Founder 
of  International  Law.  But  there  are  three  writers,  British  by 
birth,  whose  works  make  a  special  appeal  to  students  of  con- 
temporary British  thought  on  this  subject.  One  of  them  is 
a  Scotsman,  and  two  are  Englishmen. 

As  early  as  1590  William  Welwod  published  The  Sea-Law 
of  Scotland — ^a  book  now  extremely  rare.^    To  this  work  there 

^  Published  in  1615,  two  years  after  his  death.  Gentili's  book  De  lure 
Belli  was  published  in  1588. 

2  There  is  a  copy  of  the  book  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford,  and  in 
the  University  Library,  Cambridge.  There  is  no  copy  in  the  British 
Museum,  none  in  the  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh,  and  none — I  have 
ascertained — in  the  library  of  any  of  the  Scottish  Universities,  although 
Welwod  was  Professor  of  Civil  Law  at  St.  Andrews.  Mr.  Fulton  {The 
Sovereignty  of  the  Sea,  352  n.)  has  come  upon  a  MS.  copy  in  the  State  Papers, 
Dom.,  Jas.  I,  ccviii.  No.  xvi,  entitled  '  The  Sea  Law  of  Scotland,  shortly 
gathered  and  plainly  dressed  for  the  ready  use  of  all  seafaring  men.  Dedi- 
cated to  James  VL  of  Scotland  by  William  Welvod.  At  Edinborough, 
A°  1590,  by  Robert  Walgrave.'  For  the  particulars  that  follow  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  F.  Madan,  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford.  The  title  of  the  work 
as  published  is  :  The  Sea-Law  |  of  Scotland  |  Shortly  gathered  |  and 
plainly  dressit  for  |  the  reddy  use  of  all  sea-  |  fairing  men.  |  Psal.  107. 
ve.  23.  24.  31.  I  They  that  go  down  to  the  Sea  in  schips,  |  and  occupie  by 
the  great  waters.  |  They  see  the  workes  of  the  Lorde,  and  |  his  wonders  in 
the  deepe,  &c.  |  Let  them  therefore  confesse  before  the  |  Lord  his  loving 
kindnes,  and  his  wonder-  |  ful  workes  before  the  sonnes  of  men.  |  At 
Edinburgh  |  Imprinted  By  |  Robert  Waldegrave  |  An.  Dom.  1590.  [In 
an  ornamental  border  4J  x  2j^jj.]  The  size  is  small  8vo.  The  author's 
name  is  given  at  the  end  of  the  dedicatory  epistle,  which  ends  :   Be  your 


120    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

is  an  allusion,  at  once  modest  and  critical,  in  his  better-known 
book,  An  Abridgement  of  all  Sea-Lawes^  which  was  first  pub- 
lished in  1613,*  and  again,  with  slight  variations  in  spelling, 
in  1636  :  ^  *  I  thought  good,  after  the  insight  and  deepe 
consideration  of  all  the  lawes  and  ordinances  aforesaid ' 
(touching  '  every  sort  of  sea-faring  persons  in  every  order  '), 
*  to  mend  a  weake  piece  of  labour,  which  I  intended  many 
yea  res  since,  intituled  the  Sea  lazo  of  Scotland  ;  and  to  frame 
the  same  in  a  very  harmonicall  collection  of  all  sea-lawes.'  ^ 

The  Abridgement^  as  a  work,  befitting  its  title,  both  compre- 
hensive and  concise,  treats  of  many  matters  that  have  no  direct 
bearing  on  the  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea.  It  treats,  for  example, 
of  the  Clerk  of  the  Admiral  Court,  who  '  should  have  divers 
Registers,  as  for  congees,  saveconducts,  pasports,  sea-briefes ; 
as  without  which  no  shippe  should  passe  to  the  sea  in  time  of 
warre,  nor  yet  to  farre  voyages  in  time  of  peace  . . .  To  conclude, 
no  other  Clerk  or  Writer,  may  meddle  or  pen  things  concerning 
the  sea-faring,  without  licence  of  the  Admirall.'  ^  The  book 
treats  of  the  manner  of  proceeding  in  sea-faring  causes.*  It 
treats  of  the  Master  of  the  ship,  to  whom  *  the  whole  power 

M.  maist  humble  subject  |  M.  William  Welvod.  The  number  of  pages  is 
40,  but  there  is  no  printed  pagination.  Sig.  A.  4  leaves,  the  first  blank  ; 
B.  8  leaves  ;  C.  8  leaves  (the  last  two  probably  blank  :  they  are  wanting 
in  the  Bodleian  copy). 

*  8vo,  pp.  viii+77.  *  izmo,  pp.  xiv+253. 

^  Abridgement  (ed.  1636),  pp.  18-19.  The  full  title  is  'An  Abridgement 
of  all  Sea-Lawes.  Gathered  forth  of  all  Writings  and  Monuments,  which 
are  to  be  found  among  any  people  or  Nation,  upon  the  coasts  of  the  great 
Ocean  and  Mediterranean  Sea.  And  specially  ordered  and  disposed  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  all  benevolent  Sea-farers,  within  his  Majesties 
Dominions  of  Great  Brittain,  Ireland,  and  the  adjacent  Isles  thereof.' 
The  Abridgement  was  printed  at  London. 

•  Abridgement,  Tit.  iii,  '  Of  the  Admirall  Clerk  ',  pp.  45-6,  48.  For 
the  Admiralty  Court  see  Law  and  Custom  of  the  Sea,  i,  pp.  xiv  sqq. 

»  Tit.  v,  pp.  52-63- 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea*  121 

and  charge  of  the  ship  is  committed  :  which  power  is  prescribed, 
partly  by  the  owner  or  outreader,  and  partly  by  the  common 
law  of  the  sea  '.^  It  treats  of  '  the  Outreaders,  or  Outriggers, 
Furnishers,  Hyrers,  and  of  the  Owners  of  Ships,  and  of  actions 
for  and  against  them  \^  and  of  '  sundry  Partners  of  Ships, 
and  their  discords  '.^  It  treats  of  shipwreck,*  and  of  '  things 
found  upon  the  Sea,  or  within  the  floud-marke  '.^  In  its 
concluding  chapter  ®  it  treats  of  shipwrights — '  the  forgers 
and  framers  of  the  instrumentall  causes  of  all  Sea-faring  ',' 
who  not  only  must  furnish  the  materials  good  and  sufficient, 
but  also,  '  if  the  furniture  pertain  not  to  them,  they  must 
refuse  to  take  from  their  furnishers  bad  and  unmeet  geare  and 
stuffe  for  the  worke.  As  for  example,  Aller,  Beech  trees,  and 
such  like  brickie  and  naughty  timber  for  salt-water,  or  for  the 
seas ; '  ®  and  '  last  of  all,  as  Shippewrights  were  of  old,  so  are 
they  also  of  late,  forbidden,  under  paine  of  treason,  to  communi- 
cate their  skill  and  Art  to  enemies  and  barbarous  people. 
Likewise,  they  are  forbidden  (as  are  also  other  societies  of  handy- 
crafts-men  and  trades-men)  to  conspire  among  themselves 
to  enhance  their  wages,  or  hire,  or  receive  excessive  wages  '.* 
They  are  the  author's  closing  words. 

Of  the  thirty  chapters  of  this  book  of  Welwod  only  one 
bears  directly  on  the  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea.  But  the  chapter  ^^ 
is  by  much  the  most  substantial  and  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  book.  It  gives  clear  evidence  that  the  author  was  deeply 
absorbed  in  161 3  or  earlier  in  considering  a  question  which, 
two  years  later,  was  to  call  forth  from  his  pen  a  work  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  subject.  The  title  of  the  chapter  is  '  Of  the 
Community  and  Propriety  of  the  Seas '.    The  opening  words 

^  p.  83.  2  Tit.  XV,  pp.  124-9.  ^  ^'*^-  ''^j  PP-  '3°~5- 

*  Tit.  xxiii,  pp.  161-7.  *  Tit.  xxiv,  pp.  168-74. 

*  Tit.  XXX,  pp.  248-53.  '  p.  248.  *  p.  250. 

*  pp.  252-3.  ^°  Tit.  xxvii,  pp.  199-236. 


122    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

testify  to  the  influence  of  the  book  published  by  Grotius 
anonymously  in  1609.  The  author  had  '  of  late  scene  and 
perused  a  very  learned,  but  a  subtle  Treatise  {incerto  authore  *) 
intituled  Mare  liberuniy  containing  in  effect  a  plaine  Proclama- 
tion of  a  liberty  common  for  all  of  all  Nations,  to  fish  indiffer- 
ently on  all  kinde  of  Seas,  and  consequently,  a  turning  of 
undoubted  proprieties  to  a  community '.  The  discourse  of 
the  unknown  author  was  '  covered  with  the  maintenance  of 
a  liberty  to  saile  to  the  Indians  '.  At  the  very  outset,  says 
Welwod,  '  I  cannot  passe  the  Authour  his  ridiculous  pretence 
...  as  for  a  liberty  onely  to  saile  on  Seas  :  a  thing  farre  off 
from  all  controversie,  at  least  upon  the  Ocean  ;  specially,  since 
passage  upon  land  through  all  Regions  Christian,  is  this  day 
so  indifferently  permitted  to  all  of  all  Nations,  even  to  Turkes, 
lewes.  Pagans,  not  being  professed  enemies ;  and  therefore 
much  lesse  to  be  restrained  on  Sea  in  all  respects.  So  that  I 
cannot  but  perswade  both  my  selfe,  and  other  loyall  subjects, 
that  the  said  pretence  is  but  a  very  pretence,  and  so  much  the 
more  to  be  suspected  as  a  drift  against  our  undoubted  right 
and  propriety  of  fishing  on  this  side  the  Seas.'  ^ 

Appeal  is  made,  as  by  Grotius  it  had  been  made  in  liberal 
array  of  learning,  to  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  and  of 
the  Roman  jurisconsults,  and  to  that  of  others.  There  was 
considerable  stretching  of  the  texts.  The  central  argument 
of  Grotius  was  that  there  could  be  no  '  occupation  '  of  the 
sea.*     How  does  Welwod  deal  with  that   argument  ?    '  For 

*  Grotius's  name  was  given  in  the  edition  of  161 6.  Both  the  edition  of 
1608  and  that  of  161 6  were  published  at  Leyden. 

*  Abridgement^  ^^.  199-200;  201-3. 

'  See,  e.g.  c.  v.  of  Mare  Liberum.  *  Things  that  cannot  be  occupied,  or 
that  never  have  been  occupied,  cannot  be  the  property  of  any  one,  because 
all  property  has  its  origin  in  occupation.  Further,  all  things  that  have  been 
80  constituted  by  nature  that,  although  of  use  to  some  one  person,  they 
•uffice,  notwithstanding,  for  the  common  use  of  all   other  persons,  are 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea*  123 

answer,  first ',  he  says,  '  concerning  the  nature  of  the  sea,  as 
supposed  impossibly  occupable  or  acquirable ;  Is  this  so  thought 
because  the  sea  is  not  so  solid,  as  is  the  land,  that  men  may 
trade  thereon,  as  upon  land  ?  or  that  it  is  continually  flowing 
to  and  fro  ?  Surely,  that  lacke  of  solidity  for  man  his  trading 
thereon  by  foot,  shall  not  hinder  the  solid  possession  of  it,  farre 
lesse  the  occupation  and  acquiring,  if  we  will  give  to  the  sea, 
that  which  the  Jurisconsults  indulgently  grant  to  the  land, 
which  also  cannot  be  denied.'  ^  He  quotes  Paulus  to  the 
effect  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  him  who  would  '  possesse  him- 
self in  any  part  of  the  land,  to  goe  about  and  tread  over  the 
same  ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  enter-in  upon  any  thereof,  with 
a  mind  to  possesse  all  the  rest  thereof,  even  to  the  due  marches '. 
*  And  what ',  he  asks,  '  can  stay  this  to  be  done  on  sea,  as  well 
as  on  land  ?    And  thus  farre  concerning  the  solidity.'  ^ 

*  As  for  the  flowing  condition  of  the  sea,'  admit  that  it  be 
liquid,  fluid,  unstable  in  the  particles  thereof,  yet  in  the  whole 
body  it  is  not  so,  for  does  it  not  keep  the  prescribed  bounds 
strictly  enough  concerning  its  chief  place  and  limits  ?  And 
here  it  is  fitting  to  answer  '  a  scoffe  cast  in  by  the  Author  of 
Mare  liberum,  concerning  the  possibility  also  of  marches  and 
limits  for  the  division  of  the  seas  :  Mundtim  dividunt  (saith  the 
foresaid  Authour  of  Mare  liberum)  non  ullis  limitibus,  aut 
natura,  aut  manu  positis,  sed  imaginaria  quadam  linea  :  quod 
si  recipitur,  et  Geotnetrae  terras^  et  Astronomi  caelum  nobis 
eripient  ^  :   that  is,  they  divide  the  world,  not  by  any  marches, 

to-day  and  ought  for  all  time  to  remain  in  the  same  condition  as  when  they 
were  first  brought  forth  by  nature.'  *  Flumen  populus  occupare  potuit,  ut 
inclusum  finibus  suis,  mare  non  potuit.' 

^  pp.  218-19.  2  pp,  219-20. 

3  Grotius's  words,  ch.  v,  in  the  concluding  clause,  according  to  the  text 
of  1633,  are  :  *  quod  si  recipitur  et  dimensio  talis  ad  possidendum  valet, 
iamdudum  nobis  Geometrae  terras,  Astronomi  etiam  caelum  eriperent'. 
See  The  Freedom  of  the  Seas  by  Grotius,  translated  by  Magoffin  (New  York, 
1 91 6),  p.  39- 


124    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

put  either  by  nature,  or  by  the  hand  of  man,  but  by  an 
imaginary  or  fantastick  line  :  which  kinde  of  doing  being 
embraced,  the  Geometers  may  steale  away  the  earth,  and  the 
Astronomers  the  heavens  from  us.' 

True  it  is  that  there  are  not  in  every  part  of  the  sea  isles  '  sen- 
sible (as  Gernsey  is  to  England  in  the  narrow  seas)  or  sands  (as 
the  Washes  at  the  West  seas  of  England)  nor  rockes,  or  other 
eminent  and  visible  markes  above  water,  for  the  designation 
of  the  bounds  (or  laying-out  the  limits)  of  the  divisible  parts 
thereof,  but  has  not  God,  who  is  both  the  distributer  and 
first  author  of  the  division  and  distinction  of  both  land  and 
sea,  *  diversly  informed  men  by  the  helpes  of  the  Compasse, 
counting  of  courses,  sounding,  and  other  waies,  to  finde  forth, 
and  to  designe  finitum  in  infinito  ;  so  farre  as  is  expedient  for 
the  certaine  reach  and  bounds  of  seas,  properly  pertaining  to 
any  Prince  or  people  ? ' 

*  Which  bounds  Bartolus  hardily  extends  and  allowes  for 
Princes  and  people  at  the  sea  side,  an  hundreth  miles  of  sea 
forth  from  their  coasts,  at  least;  and  justly,  if  they  exercise 
a  protection  and  conservacy  so  far  :  and  this  reach  is  called 
by  the  Doctors,  Districtus  maris,  ^  territorium.  It  is  true, 
Baldus  esteemeth  potestateniy  iurisdictionem  i^  districtum,  to 
be  all  one. 

'To  conclude  then,  since  Papinian  writes  in  Jinalibus 
quaestionibus  Vetera  monumenta  sequenda  esse ;  what  more 
evident  monuments  for  our  King  his  right  in  the  narrow  seas, 
then  these  Isles  of  Gernsie  P  if^c.  And  for  the  Eastern  seas, 
direct  from  Scotland,  what  is  more  antiently  notorious  than 
that  covenant  twixt  Scottish  men  and  Hollanders,  concerning 
the  length  of  their  approaching  toward  Scotland  by  way  of 
fishing  ?  '  1 

*  Pp.  220-5.  S«e,  further,  on  fishing  rights,  pp.  233-5,  and  Welwod's 
De  Dominio  Maris  (1615),  cap.  iii ;  also  Justice,  A  General  Treatise  of  the 
Dominion  and  Laws  oj  the  Sea  (1705),  p.  167,  quoting  '  Mr.  Welwood,  an 
ingenious  Lawyer  of  that  Nation  '. 


*  The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea  *  1 25 

A  passage  follows  that  the  student  of  persona,  and  of  '  semi- 
personality  and  demi-semi-personality ',  ^  will  detach  and 
appropriate  on  its  own  account  : 

'  It  rests  to  touch  the  other  cause  naturall,  for  that  other 
impossibility,  which  may  be  the  continuall  fluxe  and  instability 
of  the  Sea  ;  in  such  sort,  that  it  would  appear  not  aye  to  be 
one  and  the  selfe  same  body,  but  daily  changeable.  For 
answer,  I  must  remember  that  which  the  Jurisconsult  sets 
down  so  prettily  :  Suppose  (sayes  he)  a  certain  Colledge  of 
Judges,  or  a  Legion  of  Souldiers,  or  the  particular  parts  of 
a  Ship,  or  of  a  mans  body,  should  so  continually  and  often  be 
changed  and  altred,  that  none  of  that  first  Colledge  or  Legion 
could  be  found  alive,  nor  yet  any  part  of  the  Shippe  or  body 
could  be  so  certainly  demonstrate,  that  it  might  be  affirmed 
for  the  very  same  that  it  was  at  the  first ;  yet  if  that  Colledge 
or  Legion  be  in  number  full,  and  the  ship  or  man  whole  and 
able  in  all  the  frame,  they  shall  be  accounted  and  esteemed  not 
to  be  new,  but  to  be  the  very  same  which  they  were  at  the 
beginning  :  even  so,  however  the  sea  many  waies  and  hourly 
changes,  in  the  small  parts  thereof,  by  the  ordinary  rush  on 
land,  mixture  with  other  waters,  swelling  in  it  selfe,  exhalation 
and  backe  receipts  thereof  by  raine  ;  yet  since  the  great  body 
of  the  Sea  most  constantly  keepes  the  set  place  prescribed  by 
the  Creator,  I  see  not  in  this  respect  neither,  wherefore  the 
nature  of  the  Sea  should  not  yeeld  to  occupation  and  conquest. 
And  thus  farre  concerning  Mare  liberum  his  last  and  great 
conclusion,  against  all  appropriation  thereof  by  people  or 
princes.'  ^ 

To  Welwod  belongs  the  twofold  distinction  of  having 
written  the  first  book  printed  in  Britain  on  Sea  Law,^  and  of 

^  Maitland,  on  '  Moral  and  Legal  Personality  ',  in  the  Journal  oj  the 
Society  of  Comparative  Legislation,  vi.  (1906),  p.  200. 

2  Abridgement,  pp.  226-8.  See  Selden,  Mare  Clausum,  lib.  i,  cap.  xxi 
*  Respondetur  Obiectioni  de  Natura  Maris  fluxili  et  perpetuo  mutante '. 

'  The  work  of  1 590.  The  claim  is  exclusive  of  mere  translations  of  works 
into  English.  There  is  extant  a  very  early  English  translation  of  an  old 
version  of  the  Rolls  of  Oleron,  entitled  '  The  Rutter  of  the  Sea  ',  printed 


126     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

being  the  author  of  the  first  attack  in  book-form  on  the  Mare 
Liberum  of  Grotius.  His  place  in  the  history  of  the  controversy 
has  been  unduly  dwarfed  by  the  much  more  elaborate,  learned 
and  solid,  and  unquestionably  eminent,  work  of  Selden.  The 
rank  of  his  contribution  in  1613  to  the  literature  of  the  subject 
has  been  still  further  depressed  by  its  appearing  merely  as 
a  chapter,  even  although  it  was  the  most  substantial  and  most 
distinguished  chapter,  in  a  highly  composite  book  on  Sea 
Laws.^     But  Grotius  himself  was  so  far  impressed  with  the 

in  London  in  1536.  The  book  is  very  rare.  See  Travers  Twiss,  The  Black 
Book  oj  the  Admiralty,  1.  (1871),  p.  Ixxii.  There  was  an  earlier  transla- 
tion by  Robert  Copland  (London,  1528).  Ibid. ;  see  also  i,p.  Ixivand  p.  89. 
*  Alexander  Justice,  a  very  industrious  compiler,  notes,  as  a  defect  in 
Welwod's  book  in  relation  to  its  title,  that  It  '  contains  only  a  few  general 
Maxims  and  Customs  of*different  Nations,  with  so  little  Method,  that  it 
is  a  very  hard  matter  to  distinguish  when  he  speaks  of  one  Nation  and  when 
of  another ',  p.  1 96  of  ^  General  Treatise  oJ  the  Dominion  and  Laws  of  the 
Sea  containing,  What  is  most  Valuable  upon  that  Subject,  in  Ancient  and 
Modern  Authors,  Sec.  London,  1705  :  a  work  of  660  pages  (exclusive  of 
'  An  Additional  Discourse  of  the  Law  of  Insurances,  and  Bottomry  *, 
40  pp.),  each  page  containing  about  six  times  as  many  words  as  a  page  of 
Welwod's  Abridgement  (253  pp.).  Justice,  in  alluding,  p.  196,  to  the 
Abridgement,  says  *  there  has  lately  appear'd  an  Abridgment  of  that  in 
a  small  Octavo,  In  four  sheets  and  a  half,  which  the  Publisher  Is  pleased  to 
intitle.  An  Abstract  of  the  Sea-Laws,  as  established  in  most  Kingdoms  of 
Europe  :  but  more  particularly  in  England  and  Scotland'.  In  spite  of  hU 
not  too  complimentary  allusion  to  Welwod's  '  little  Book ',  Justice  was  of 
opinion  that  the  author  in  chapter  xxvll  *  very  plainly  and  very  judiciously 
confutes  the  Arguments  which  the  ingenious  Hugo  Grotius  proposes  In  his 
Book  .  .  .  ;  and  to  him  an  excellent  Author  Mr.  Selden  freely  insinuates 
himself  to  have  been  obllg'd  for  some  of  the  Arguments  which  he  has  made 
use  of  in  his  Answer  to  the  aforesaid  Book '.  Much  in  Justice's  book  is 
merely  a  reproduction  of  parts  of  Selden's  Mare  Clausum.  On  the  literary 
origins  of  his  work  see  Twiss,  Black  Book  of  the  Admiralty,  iv.  pp.  Iv-viii, 
and  Ixlv-xv.  Sir  Travers  Twiss  says  the  book  Is  '  very  rare  '.  For  an 
allusion  to  Welwod,  see  Black  Book,  iv.  lix. 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea'  127 

force  of  Welwod's  attack  as  to  prepare  a  defence/  in  which  he 
deals  more  particularly  with  the  question  of  fishery  rights, 
which  was  also  Welwod's  particular  concern,  and  denies, 
in  a  more  absolute  sense  than  in  his  earlier  work  or  in  his  later, 
a  title  to  sovereignty  or  property  in  any  part  whatsoever  of 
the  sea.  The  Defensio  was  not  published,  probably  because  it 
was  thought  to  be  unwise  to  add  to  the  resentment  felt  by 
James  I  at  any  questioning  of  his  rights. ^  A  sympathetic 
appraiser  of  Grotius  has  recently  described  it  as  '  a  rather 
disappointing  and  unconvincing  answer  '  ^  to  Welwod. 

In  1615,  two  years  after  the  publication  of  the  Abridgement, 
Welwod  published  a  Latin  work  on  the  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea.* 
This  work,  De  Dominio  Maris,  consisting  of  about  seven 
thousand  words,  is  described  by  him  as  being  brief  ^  and 
methodical.  It  is  certainly  well  planned,  and  not  too  narrowly, 
for  its  immediate  object — ^that  of  opposing  the  freedom 
wrongfully  usurped   by  foreigners   of  fishing  in   the  British 

*  Defensio  Capitis  Quinti  Maris  Liberi  Oppugnati  a  Guliclmo  Welwodo 
luris  Civilis  Professore,  Capite  XXVII  eius  Libri  Scripti  Anglica  Sermone 
cui  Titulum  Fecit  Compendium  Legum  Maritimarutn.  The  manuscript  was 
discovered  at  the  same  time  as  the  De  lure  Praedae,  and  published  in  1 872. 
See  Magoffin,  The  Freedom  of  the  Seas  (191 6),  p.  ix  (Introductory  Note 
by  James  Brown  Scott);  Vreeland,  Hugo  Grotius  (191 7),  pp.  56-75  and 
Fulton  (1911),  pp.  356-7. 

2  Fulton,  pp.  152-3  and  346-7,  and  references  in  foot-notes. 

3  Vreeland,  p.  57. 

*  De  Dominio  Maris,  luribusque  ad  Dominium  praecipue  spectantibus 
Assertio  brevis  et  methodica.  Cosmopoli,  16.  Calend.  lanuar.  161 5.  8vo, 
pp.  vi  +  28. 

^  *  Lectori  Aequiori.  Mirabere  forte  tantalum  de  re  tanta  compendium  : 
sed  hunc  agendi  modum,  ut  mihi  ingenitum,  sic  tibi  veritatiq  ;  consultiorem 
putavi :  Tibi  quidem  brevitate,  sed  perspicua  :  veritati  vero  simplicitate 
genuina,  qua  quum  amicitur,  tum  &  armatur  &  ornatur.  Earn  itaque  ad 
eum  modum  tibi  exhibeo,  boni  consule  ac  bene  vale.' 


128     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

Seas.^  It  expands  and  makes  more  systematic  the  treatment 
of  *  propriety  of  the  seas '  in  the  twenty-seventh  chapter  of 
the  Abridgement.  The  theses  which  Welwod  sets  out  to 
sustain  are  expressed  by  him  thus  in  the  titles  to  the  four 
chapters  of  his  book  :  (i)  Dominia  esse  in  Mari,  eaque  distincta  ; 
(2)  lus  navigandi  in  Mari  non  esse  omnimodo  liberum  ;  (3)  lus 
piscandi  in  Mari  esse  maxima  parte  appropriatum  ;  (4)  Mare 
esse  vectigale.  Selden  quoted  from  the  third  chapter  the  more 
pertinent  2  of  the  words  of  Welwod,  as  '  lurisconsultus 
Scotus ',  about  the  quarrels  between  the  Scots  and  the  Dutch  : 
strangers,  Welwod  had  written  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  of 
his  Abridgement  to  the  Lords  Admirals,  required  to  be  *  stayed 
from  scarring,  scattring,  and  breaking  the  shoals  of  our  fishes ; 
namely,  upon  our  coasts  of  Scotland '. 

"  The  two  English  writers  of  distinction  in  the  controversies 
of  the  seventeenth  century  regarding  *  the  Sovereignty  of  the 
Sea  '  are  Selden  and,  in  less  degree.  Sir  John  Boroughs.  The 
controversy  touching  the  Sovereignty,  Superiority  or  Dominion 
of  the  English  or  British  Seas  was  much  more  than  a  writers' 
controversy.  It  raised  substantial  and  highly  practical  interests, 
such  as  fishing  rights  and  rights  of  taking  tolls  ;  in  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries  and  later  ^  the  claim  was  intimately 

^  See  the  words  of  the  dedication  of  the  book  to  Anne,  wife  of  James  I : 
'  contra  extraneos  piscandi  immunltatem  in  Mari  Britannico  iniuria  usur- 
pantes  '.  The  Queen  had  in  1613  unsuccessfully  tried  to  get  a  royal  patent 
empowering  her  *  to  graunt  lycense  and  to  compound  with  these  strangers 
for  an  yearly  revenue  to  be  paid  unto  her  Majcstie  for  theis  fishings '. — 
State  Papers,  Dom.,  Ixxvii.  79,  quoted  by  Fulton,  p.  161. 

*  *  Non  possum  practcrire  .  .  .  partimque  batavorum  {Batavorum  in 
Selden)  audacia  sic  [sic  omitted  by  Selden)  evanuerunt.' — De  Dominio 
Maris,  p.  16;  Mare  Clausum,  lib.  ii,  c.  xxxi.  {^  De  Regis  Magnae  Britanniae 
dominio  in  mari  Scotico,  Orientali  maxime  &  Septentrionali '),  pp.  546-7 
of  ed.  of  1636  (12  mo). 

^  Compj;iint8  regarding  piracy  made  part  of  the  ground  for  the  levy  of 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea'  129 

connected  with  the  important  duty  of  repressing  piracy  ;  and 
the  ceremony  of  striking  the  flag  and  lowering  the  topsail,^ 
which  was  intended  as  a  symbol  of  acknowledgement  of  a 
sovereign  power  and  jurisdiction,  and  is  the  mark  by  which 
the  claim  to  dominion  is  best  known  to  the  general  reader  of 
English  history,  gave  rise  to  critical  passages  in  writings,  in 
diplomacy  and  in  the  conduct  of  war.  The  controversy  was 
also,  however,  a  '  Battle  of  Books  ',^  and,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  future  was  in  fact  and  result  to  be  with  Grotius  in 
respect  of  the  leading  issues  at  stake,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  honours  of  learning  lay  with  Selden.  But  Selden's 
book — Mare  Clausum  sen  de  Dominio  Maris  Libri  Duo — must 
not  be  viewed  merely  as  an  answer  to  Grotius.  Mare  Liberum 
is  a  short  work  when  compared  with  Mare  Clausum.  The  work 
of  Grotius  was  written  to  sustain  a  definite  case,  although  it 
must  be  conceded  that  its  sweep  was  wide  in  principles,  in 
citation  of  authorities,  and  in  illustrations,  for  its  purpose. 
The  text  of  Mare  Liberum  contains  about  14,000  words.  The 
text  of  Mare  Clausum  contains  about  90,000  words.  The  whole 
of  the  first  book,^  consisting  of  twenty-six  chapters,  is  given 

Ship-money  by  Charles  I.  Examples  are  found  for  1633  in  Strafford's 
Letters  and  Dispatches  (1740),  e.g.  i.  106-7  (with  Wentworth's  statement 
of  the  King's  rights  in  St.  George's  Channel).  For  the  first  writ  of 
ship-money  and  the  plea  of  piracy,  see  Rushworth's  Collections,  ii.  257, 
and  for  a  general  call  to  the  dominion  of  the  sea,  ii.  297-8 — Coventry, 
Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  in  delivering  his  charge,  June  17,  1635. 
The  dominion  of  the  sea  is  at  the  very  heart  of  Ship-money  Case,  from 
the  King's  standpoint.  See  Rushworth,  ii.  322 ;  545,  552  (the  Attorney- 
General's  citation  of  *  that  Learned  Book  of  Mr.  Selden '),  and  extracts 
from  the  speeches  in  Ship-money  Case  given  by  Gardiner,  Constitutional 
Documents  of  the  Puritan  Revolution. 

^  '  Vaile  Bonnet  in  acknowlegement  of  this  Superioritie.' — Boroughs, 
p.  62. 

*  The  term  is  that  of  M.  Nys. 

^  '  Libro  Primo,  Mare^  ex  lure  Naturae  seu  Gentium,  omnium  hominum 

2224  j^ 


130    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

up  to  an  exposition  of  principles,  the  citation  and  examination 
of  authorities,*  and  an  exposition  of  the  maritime  practice  of 
other  peoples  than  the  British,  peoples  Eastern  and  Western, 
and  at  all  ages  in  the  world's  history  down  to  the  author's 
own  day.  The  second  book,^  consisting  of  thirty-two  chapters, 
states  and  enforces  the  case  for  Britain  by  an  examination  of 
facts,  claims,  and  records  from  Roman  times  down  to  the  time 
when  Selden  was  called  upon  by  Charles  I  to  proceed  with  the 
completion  of  a  work  which  he  had  already  presented  to  James  I 
in  i6i8.^  He  is  generous  in  his  appreciation  of  the  learning 
and  distinction  of  Grotius,*an  author  of  vast  erudition  and  wide 

non  esse  Commune,  sed  Dominii  privati  seu  Proprietatis  capax,  pariter  ac 
Tellurem,  esse  demonstratur.' 

*  e.g.  cap.  xxiv  :  Ad  Obiectionem  ex  lurisconsultls  Veteribus  depromptam 
Responsio :  and  cap.  xxvi :  Recentiorum  lurisconsultorum  sententiis, 
qua  adversantur,  maxime  Fernandi  Vasquii  &  Hugonis  Grotii,  respondetur. 

^  Secundo,  Serenissimum  Magnae  Britanniae  Regent  Maris  circumflui, 
ut  indivlduae  atque  perpetuae  Imperii  Britannici  appendicis,  Dominum 
esse,  asseritur. 

^  Selden,  Vindiciae  Maris  Clausiy  in  Selden's  Works  (1776),  ii,  p.  1425; 
Twiss,  Black  Book  of  the  Admiralty,  i.  xiii.  One  of  the  reasons  assigned  for 
the  withholding  of  publication  at  that  time  is  the  apprehension  of  James, 
that  there  were  passages  in  the  work  which  might  offend  the  King  of 
Denmark  from  whom  he  was  endeavouring  to  obtain  a  loan  of  money. 
This  was  the  explanation  given  by  Selden  in  1652  when  a  Dutch  lawyer, 
Graswinckel,  a  cousin  of  Grotius,  taunted  him  with  having  written  it  to 
get  release  from  prison.  Graswinckel  was  selected  by  the  States-General 
to  prepare  a  reply  to  Selden's  Mare  Clausum  which  made  a  considerable 
impression  on  the  Dutch.  The  reply  was  not  published,  the  States 
apparently  accepting  the  advice  tendered,  that  the  freedom  of  the  sea 
must  be  protected  with  the  sword,  and  not  merely  with  the  pen. — Vreeland, 
Grotius,  p.  48,  citing  Fruin's  Verspreide  Gescbrijten,  iii,  p.  408.  Graswinckel 
published  in  1653  a  work  against  Welwod. 

*  In  lib.  I,  c.  ii,  in  alluding  to  the  more  recent  writers  who  have  opposed 
the  dominion  of  the  sea,  Selden  writes  of  Vasquius  and  Grodus  as  '  claris- 
simi  quldem  utrique,  sed  eruditione  et  nitore  ingenii  impares  '.     Of  Grotius  : 


*  The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea '  131 

range  of  mind,  whose  great  work,  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pacts,  was 
published  eight  years  after  the  first  draft  of  Mare  Clausum 
had  been  ready,  and  ten  years  before  the  publication  of  the 
completed  workin  1635,  with  a  dedication  to  Charles  I.  Selden's 
tribute  is  an  honourable  one,  coming,  as  it  does,  from  the 
author  of  one  of  the  most  learned  works  written  by  Englishmen, 
and  coming  from  him  at  a  critical  point  in  a  battle  of  books, 
of  principles,  and  of  the  claims  of  rival  peoples. 

No  exposition  of  Mare  Clausum  is  necessary  here.  The  book 
is  not  rare.  It  has  been  translated  into  English.^  Its  substance 
has  been  presented  in  convenient  compass  by  more  than 
one  writer.^ 

The  work  of  the  other  English  writer  of  distinction  on  this 
subject  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I  was  finished  in  1633 — two 
years  before  Selden's  book  appeared  ;  but  it  was  not  published 
till  eighteen  years  later — in  165 1,  eight  years  after  the  author's 
death.    The  original  version  was  in  Latin;  ^  the  book  published 

*  Batavus,  Fiscalis  olim  advocatus  Hollandiae,  Zelandiae,  &  Westfrisiae, 
aliisque  honoribus  patriis  meretissimo  auctus,  vir  acuminis  &  omnigenae 
doctrinae  praestantia  incomparabilis.'  Again,  in  c.  xxvl  *  Virum  ingentis 
eruditionis,  &  rerum  humanarum  divinarumque  scientisslmum,  Hugonem 
Grotium  ;  cuius  nomen  passim  in  ore  hominum  arripitur  ut  naturali  & 
perpetuae  Maris  communione  mire  patrocinantis.'  Mare  Clausum  has 
a  number  of  quotations  from  Grotius's  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pads  as  well  as  from 
Mare  Liberum.  Before  1635  the  reputation  of  Grotius  was  high  and  far- 
reaching. 

^  By  Marchamont  Needham,  1652.  On  April  15,  1636,  the  King  in 
Council  required  that  *  no  person  whatsoever,  do,  or  shall  import,  publish, 
set  to  sale  '  any  copies  of  a  *  foreign  edition,  either  in  Latin  or  English  ', 
that  had  been  issued,  '  except  only  such  as  have,  or  shall  be  licensed  by 
the  Laws  and  Customs  of  this  Realm*.  Rushworth,  ii,  pp.  320,  321.  This 
action  was  called  for  inasmuch  as  '  some  have  caused  the  said  book  to  be 
printed  in  some  place  beyond  the  seas ' — in  Holland,  where  three  editions 
were  published  within  a  year  of  its  first  publication  in  England. 

*  See,  especially,  Fulton,  pp.  369-74. 

'  The  title  is  Dominium  Maris  Britannici  assertum  ex  Arcbiuis  Historiis 

K  2 


132    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

is  in  English — '  The  Soveraignty  of  the  British  Seas.  Proved 
by  Records,  History,  and  the  Municipall  Lawes  of  this  King- 
dome.  Written  in  the  yeare  1633.  By  that  Learned  Knight, 
Sr  John  Boroughs,  Keeper  of  the  Records  in  the  Tower  of 
London.'  ^  The  work,  we  are  told  in  the  words  addressed  '  To 
the  Reader  ',  was  written  '  at  the  request  of  a  great  Person  ' — 
Charles  I,  to  whom  the  original  work  in  Latin  was  dedicated, 

*  who  desir'd  to  understand  the  true  State  of  the  Question, 
concerning  the  Dominion  of  the  British  Seas,  as  well  what 
Histories  as  our  own  Records  would  afford.  And  here  'tis 
done  in  a  little  roome ;  for  the  Author  was  able  to  speake 
fully,  and  briefly  both  at  once.  Some  others  have  written  of 
the  same  Subject ;  and  if  wee  thought  any  spake  more,  or 
so  much,  in  so  short  compasse,  wee  should  forbeare  the 
publication  of  this.  Wee  are  borne  in  an  Island,  and  cannot 
goe  out  of  it,  without  asking  leave  of  the  Sea  and  Winde  ; 
and  not  to  know  what  Right  we  have  to  that  Water  which 
divides  us  from  all  the  World,  is  something  ill  becoming  such 
as  can  read,  and  may  know  for  reading.' 

Boroughs's  Latin  work  was  written  when  the  question  of 
the  dominion  of  the  British  Sea  raised  a  critical  problem  of 
a  constitutional  character  touching  the  royal  prerogative  in 
England,  as  well  as  a  claim  of  an  international  character 
touching  the  rights  of  the  Crown  abroad.  For  the  latter 
purpose,  at  least,  its  place  was  deservedly  taken  by  the  much 

et  Municipalibus  Regni  Legibus  per  D.  lohanncm  de  Burgo,  1633.  The 
original  Latin  copy  is  in  the  Harleian  MSS.,  4314,  Brit.  Mus.  See  Fulton, 
p.  365,  f.n.,  where  reference  is  made  to  a  '  fine  copy  in  English  ',  dated  1637, 
in  the  State  Papers,  Dom.,  ccclxxvi.  68. 

*  London,  Printed  for  Humphrey  Moseley,  and  arc  to  be  sold  at  his 
Shop  at  the  Princes  Armes  in  St.  Pauls  Church  yard.  1651.  The  book  is 
i2mo,  pp.  (x  +  )  165 — about  seventy  words  to  the  page.  It  was  reprinted 
in  Gerard  de  Malyncs'  Consuctudo  vel  Lex  Mercatoria,  or  the  Antient  Law 
Merchant  (1686 :   a  work  first  published  in  1622). 


*The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea*  133 

more  substantial,  more  learned  and  more  thorough  work  of 
Selden.  The  book,  in  its  English  version,  contains  only  about 
eleven  thousand  words,  being  thus  shorter  than  the  Mare 
Liberum  of  Grotius,  and  only  about  one-eighth  of  the  length 
of  Selden's  book.^  It  presents,  however,  a  considerable  amount 
of  information  in  its  small  space.  It  gives  evidence  of  consider- 
able and  careful  research  among  records,  as  becomes  the  Keeper 
of  the  Records  in  the  Tower  of  London.  It  is  written  in  a  clear 
and  pleasing  style.  It  has  zeal  for  the  well-being  and  greatness 
of  England,  and  is  jealous  of  her  honour.  When  the  book  was 
published  in  165 1  the  political  setting  in  England  had  been 
profoundly  disturbed,  but  the  question  of  rights  and  of  power 
at  sea  against  the  Dutch,  in  particular,  was  urgent  and  of  the 
highest  importance,  transcending  both  in  content  and  in 
reasoning  the  technical  constructions  and  the  legal  and  lawyerly 
lore  to  which  the  claim  to  the  dominion  of  the  narrow  seas  had 
to  make  appeal.  The  claim  was  not  one  to  be  pressed  in  all 
circumstances  as  though  it  were  a  right  paramount.  The 
instructions  issued  to  Blake  in  January  1650  had  contained  the 
following  words  : 

'  And  whereas  the  dominion  of  these  seas  hath  anciently  and 
time  out  of  mind  undoubtedly  belonged  to  this  nation,  and  that 
the  ships  of  all  other  nations  in  acknowledgment  of  that  domi- 
nion have  used  to  take  down  their  flags  upon  sight  of  the  admiral 
of  England,  and  not  to  bear  it  in  his  presence ;  you  are,  as  much 
as  in  you  lyeth,  and  as  you  find  yourself  and  the  fleet  of  strength 
and  ability,  to  do  your  endeavours  to  preserve  the  dominion 
of  the  sea,  and  to  cause  the  ships  of  all  other  nations  to  strike 
their  flags,  and  not  to  bear  ihem  up  in  your  presence,  and  to 
compel  such  as  are  refractory  therein,  by  seizing  their  ships, 
and  sending  them  in,  to  be  punished  according  to  the  laws 

^  *  Be  not  startled  to  see  so  great  a  subject  handled  in  so  small  a  Volume. 
When  you  have  read  but  a  little  of  this  little,  you'll  thinke  the  Authour  was 
tender  of  your  trouble  but  not  of  his  own.' — '  To  the  Reader.' 


134    ^^^  Literature  of  International  Relations 

of  the  sea,  unless  they  submit,  and  yield  such  obedience,  and 
make  such  repair,  as  you  shall  approve  of.  But  yet  notwith- 
standing, albeit  the  said  dominion  of  the  sea  be  so  ancient  and 
indubitable,  and  concerneth  the  honour  and  reputation  of 
this  nation  to  uphold  the  same,  we  should  not  for  all  that, 
that  you  should  in  this  expedition  engage  the  fleet  in  any  peril 
or  hazard  for  that  particular  ;  so  that  if  it  should  in  this 
expedition  happen,  you  should  be  opposed  therein  by  such 
a  considerable  force,  as  the  same  might  prove  dangerous,  then 
to  forbear  the  pressing  thereof,  and  take  notice,  who  they  were 
that  did  it  not,  that  at  some  better  opportunity  they  may  be 
brought  hereafter  thereunto.'  * 

But  the  claim  to  the  dominion  of  the  sea  was  very  far  from 
being  a  spent  one,*  and  Boroughs's  little  book  deservedly  ranks 

^  Thurloe,  Slate  Paper s^  i.  135. 

*  Two  interesting  pamphlets  bearing  on  the  foundations  of  the  claim 
and  on  its  vicissitudes  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II  are  reprinted  in  the 
Harleian  Miscellany,  vol.  vii  (1810) — The  Dutch  Usurpation  .  .  .  and 
A  Justification  of  the  Present  War  against  the  United  Netherlands,  Wherein 
.  .  .  the  Dominion  oj  the  Sea  [is]  explained,  and  his  Majesty's  Rights  thereunto 
asserted.  Both  were  printed  first  in  1672.  For  a  valuable  enunciation  of 
modern  principles  touching  the  general  question  of  the  freedom  of  the  sea 
and  maritime  rights,  the  historical  student  should  read  the  judgement  of 
Sir  William  Scott,  Lord  Stowell,  in  the  case  of  Le  Louis,  December  15, 
1817:  Dodson,  Reports  of  Cases  argued  and  determined  in  the  High  Court 
of  Admiralty,  ii.  (1828),  pp.  210-64  (Judgment,  pp.  236-64).  Dodson, 
for  the  appellant  in  the  case,  said  of  '  the  empire  of  the  seas,  in  the  modern 
acceptadon  of  the  term  ',  that  it  does  not  imply  any  exclusive  legal  privi- 
leges, and  that  the  only  meaning  that  can  justly  be  assigned  to  it  is,  that 
in  time  of  war  the  nation  possessing  it  has  a  perfect  mastery  over  the  fleets 
of  the  enemy,  and  can  secure  to  itself  all  the  important  advantages  arising 
from  such  superiority,  but  that  in  time  of  peace  it  confers  no  peculiar 
privilege.  In  the  course  of  his  argument  he  cited  Vasquius,  Welwod,  and 
Vattel  as  authorities.  On  the  subject  of  the  dominion  of  the  sea  in  the 
limited  and  technical  sense  which  Selden,  Boroughs,  and  others  contended 
for  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Lord  Stowell  touched  to  the  extent  of  the 
following  words  :  '  It  is  true,  that  wild  claims  .  .  .  have  been  occasionally 
set  up  by  nations,  particularly  those  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  in  the  East 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea'  i35 

high  in  the  history  of  the  literature  of  the  subject  in  England. 
We  must  not  urge  too  strongly  the  canons  of  historical  evidence 
against  the  assiduous  attempt  to  buttress  the  claim  by  contin- 
uous illustration  and  estimate  of  rights  of  sovereignty  over 
the  British  seas  from  the  days  of  the  Britons  before  the  coming 
of  the  Romans,^  down  through  the  Roman  occupation  ^  to  the 
solicitude  of  Edgar  ^  and  Canute  *  and  other  kings  for  the 
defence  of  the  seas,  '  untill  the  conquest  made  by  William 
Duke  of  Normandie,  in  whose  raign,  and  for  many  discents 
after  him,  the  Soveraigntie  of  the  said  Seas  was  so  far  from  being 
evicted  that  it  was  never  so  much  as  questioned  by  any  Nation 
until  the  time  of  Edward  the  first,  about  the  year  1 299  and  the 
six  and   twentieth  of  his   raigne  '.^     We  must  not  look  for 

and  West  Indian  Seas  :  but  these  are  claims  of  a  nature  quite  foreign  to 
the  present  question,  being  claims  not  of  a  general  right  of  visitation  and 
search  upon  the  high  seas  unappropriated,  but  extravagant  claims  to  the 
appropriation  of  particular  seas,  founded  upon  some  grants  of  a  pretended 
authority,  or  upon  some  ancient  exclusive  usurpation.  Upon  a  prin- 
ciple much  more  just  in  itself  and  more  temperately  applied,  maritime 
States  have  claimed  a  right  of  visitation  and  Inquiry  within  those  parts 
of  the  ocean  adjoining  to  their  shores,  which  the  common  courtesy  of 
nations  has  for  their  common  convenience  allowed  to  be  considered  as 
parts  of  their  dominions  for  various  domestic  purposes,  and  particularly 
for  fiscal  or  defensive  regulations,  more  Immediately  affecting  their  rights 
and  welfare.  Such  are  our  hovering  laws,  which  within  certain  limited 
distances  more  or  less  moderately  assigned,  subject  foreign  vessels  to  such 
examination.  This  has  nothing  in  common  with  a  right  of  visitation  and 
search  upon  the  unappropriated  parts  of  the  ocean.'  Op.  cit.,  pp.  245-6. 
See,  further,  pp.  253-4  for  the  principle,  that  a  nation  has  a  right  to  enforce 
its  system  of  navigation  only  so  far  as  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  rights 
of  others.    See  also  W.  E.  Hall  and  L.  Oppenheim,  cited  above,  p.  116. 

^  The  Soveraignty  of  the  British  Seas,  pp.  8-18. 

*  pp.  18-19:  the  Romans  had  'made  themselves  possessorie  Lords  of 
the  Island '. 

^  pp.  20-2.  *  p.  23.  ^  pp.  24 ~5- 


136     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

exactitude  on  the  tangled  subject  of  the  Laws  of  Oleron  ^ 
and  the  sea-law  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But,  at  least,  the  author 
is  clear  in  his  own  mind  regarding  the  content  of  the  claim 
to  the  lordship  of  the  *  seas  environing  England  '.^  The  kings 
of  England  have  successively  had  the  *  Soveraigne  guarcj  of 
the  Seas  ',  and  definite  and  substantial  rights  and  powers 
have  been  attached  to  that  sovereignty.  They  *  have  imposed 
taxes  and  tributes  upon  all  ships  passing  *  and  fishing  therein  '. 
They  *  have  stopped,  and  opened  the  passage  thereof,  to  strangers 
as  they  saw  cause  '.  '  All  wrecks  and  Royall  fishes  therein 
found  are  originally  due  and  doe  belong  unto  them.'  *  The 
author  treats  concisely  of  the  rights  and  incidents  involved  in 

*  The  Soveraignty  of  the  British  Seas,  pp.  48-50 :  '  the  famous  Lawes 
of  Olleron  (which  after  the  Rhodian  Lawes  were  antinquated  and 
absolete)  have  now  well  near  500  yeares  been  received  by  all  the  Christian 
world  for  regulating  Sea  affaires,  and  deciding  Maritime  controversies.' 
For  mediaeval  sea  laws,  their  origins,  descent,  and  connexions,  the 
English  work  of  authority  is  Travers  Twiss,  The  Black  Book  of  the 
Admiralty  (Rolls  Series),  4  vols.  (1871-6).  In  the  Introduction  to  the 
second  volume  there  is  a  sketch  of  the  '  Growth  of  Modern  Maritime  Law '. 
A  reading  of  this  may  with  advantage  be  preceded  by  the  reading  of 
tfce  Introduction  to  the  third  volume,  treating  especially  of  the  Laws  of 
Oleron  and  of  the  Consulate  of  the  Sea.  The  author's  object  in  the  fourth 
volume  was  to  bring  together  the  oldest  texts  of  all  the  more  important 
collections  of  mediaeval  sea  laws,  that  '  have  come  into  use  since  the 
Rhodian  Laws  have  ceased  to  be  the  governing  Sea  Laws  of  the  civilised 
world '.  He  draws  attention  to  '  two  simple  circumstances '  that  have 
proved  hard  obstacles  to  inquirers  into  the  authenticity  of  any  body  of 
mediaeval  sea  laws  :  '  (i)  that  the  text  of  the  laws  has  been  modernised 
from  time  to  time  to  make  them  more  intelligible  to  successive  generations  ; 
(z)  that  additions  have  been  made  to  the  collective  body  of  laws  from  time 
to  time  to  increase  the  usefulness  of  the  collection.'  '  The  Judgments  of 
Oleron  supply  a  striking  instance  of  the  process  of  enlargement,  to  which 
an  ancient  collection  of  laws  may  be  subject  in  the  course  of  time.'  Op.  cit., 
iv,  p.  cxi.  «  p.  54. 

'  The  word  is  printed  '  passign  ',  p.  56.  There  are  many  misprints  in 
the  book,  especially  in  the  extracts  in  French.  *  pp.  56-7. 


'The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea*  137 

this  sovereignty^ — of  the  vail ;  ^  of  tribute  ;  ^  of  licences  to 
foreigners  to  fish  ;  ^  and  of  rules  to  the  like  effect  enjoined  by- 
other  States ;  *  of  the  King's  opening  and  stopping  the  passage 
of  his  seas ;  ^  and  of  wrecks  and  of  '  royall  fishes  taken  in  our 
seas  '  as  due  by  prerogative  and  sovereignty  to  the  kings  of 
England  only  or  *  unto  such  unto  whom  by  special  charters 
they  have  granted  the  same  '.*  He  is  contending,  not  for 
a  technical  claim  merely,  but  for  the  practical  interests  of 
Englishmen  against  the  pretensions  and  interests  of  the 
foreigner,  and  especially  of  the  Dutch.    '  Inestimable  '  are  the 

*  riches  and  commodities  of  the  British  Seas.' '  Why  not 
protect  and  conserve  them  for  those  to  whom  they  should 
bring  wealth  and  prosperity  ?  In  September  not  many  years 
since  '  upon  the  Coast  of  Devonshire  neare  Minigall '  were 
not  500  ton  of  fish  taken  in  one  day  ? 

*  And  about  the  same  time  three  thousand  pound  worth  of 
fish  in  one  day  were  taken  at  St.  Ives  in  Cornewall  by  small 
boates,  and  other  poore  provisions.  Our  five-men-boats,  and 
cobles  adventuring  in  a  calme  to  launch  out  amongst  the 
Holland  Busses  not  far  from  Robin-hoods  Bay  returned  to 
Whitby  full  fraught  with  herrings,  and  reported  that  they 
saw  some  of  those  Busses  take  10.  20.  24.  lasts  at  a  draught  of 
herrings  and  returned  into  their  owne  Country  with  40.  50. 
and  100.  lasts  of   herrings  in  one  Busse.'  *     *  Our  Fleete  of 

^  pp.  62-4  :  '  all  strangers  even  at  this  day  Vaile  Bonnet  in  acknowlege- 
ment  of  this  Superioritie  '  in  '  the  Narrow  Seas  ',  p.  62. 

2  pp.  64-73. 

'  PP'  73  "^2.  See  '  Report  of  the  Admiralty  to  Charles  I  as  to  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Ship-money  Fleet  in  wafting  and  securing  Foreign  Merchants 
passing  through  His  Majesty's  Seas,  and  in  protecting  Foreign  Fishermen 
who  accept  the  King's  License '. — State  Papers,  Dom.,  Charles  I,  vol.  cccxiii, 
No.  24,  February  5,  163  5 -1636.    Fulton,  Appendix  i. 

*  pp.  82-4.  6  pp   S^-g,  8  pp.  91-106. 

'  p.  108  :  the  heading  of  a  section  of  the  book. 

^  pp.  1 12-14. 


138   The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

colliers  not  many  yeares  since  returning  from  Newcastle  laden 
with  coales  about  the  well,  neare  Flanborough  head,  and 
Scarborough  met  with  such  multitudes  of  Cod,  Ling,  and 
herring,  that  one  amongst  the  rest  with  certaine  ship- 
hookes,  and  other  like  Instruments  drew  up  as  much  cod, 
and  Ling  in  a  httle  space  of  time,  as  were  sold  well  neare 
for  as  much  as  her  whole  lading  of  coale.  And  many  hundred 
of  ships  might  have  bin  there  laden  in  two  dales  and  two 
nights.'  1 

This  *  wonderful  affluence,  and  abundance  of  fish  swarming 
in  our  seas '  ^  the  Hollanders  by  their  fishing  have  known  how 
to  turn  to  good  account.  Thereby  they  made  increase.  They 
have  increased  in  shipping  ;  ^    in  mariners ;  *    in  trade  ;  ^    in 

*  7be  Soveraignty  of  the  British  Seas,  pp.  1 14-15.  ^  p.  "S- 

'  pp.  117-23.  For  the  herring  season  alone, '  they  have  1600.  Busses  at 
the  least,  all  of  them  fishing  onely  upon  our  coasts,  from  Boughonnesse 
in  Scotland  to  the  mouth  of  Thames.  And  every  one  of  these  maketh 
work  for  three  other  shippes  that  attend  her  ;  the  one  to  bring  in  salt 
from  forraigne  parts,  another  to  carry  the  sayd  salt,  and  cask  to  the  busses, 
and  to  bring  back  their  herrings,  and  the  third  to  transport  the  sayd  fish 
into  forraigne  countries.  So  that  the  totall  number  of  ships  and  busses 
plying  the  herring  Faire  is  6400.  whereby  every  busse,  one  with  another, 
imployeth  40.  men,  Mariners  and  Fishers  within  her  own  hold,  and  the  rest 
tenne  men  a  peece,  which  amounteth  to  11 2000.  Fishers  and  Marriners. 
All  which  maintaine  double,  if  not  treble  so  many  Tradesmen,  women  and 
children  a  land.  Moreover  they  have  400.  other  vessels  at  least,  that 
take  Herring  at  Tarmouth,  and  there  sell  them  for  ready  mony.'  They  have 
a  total  of  '  at  least  icxx>o.  saile,  being  more  then  are  in  England^  France, 
Spaine,  Portugall,  Italy,  Denmarke,  Poland,  Sweden,  and  Russia.  And  to 
this  number  they  adde  every  day  ;  although  their  country  it  selfe  affords 
them  neither  materialls,  or  victuall,  nor  merchandize  to  bee  accounted  of 
towards  their  setting  forth.' — pp.  119-22. 

*  pp.  124 -s- 

*  pp.  125-9:  e.g.  'From  the  Southern  parts,  as  France,  Spaine,  and 
Portugall  for  our  herrings  they  returne  Oyles,  Wines,  Pruynes,  Honey, 
WooUes  &c.  with  store  of  coine  in  specie.' — p.  126. 


*  The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea  '  139 

towns  and  forts ;  ^  in  power  abroad  ;  ^  in  public  revenue  ;  ^ 
in  private  wealth  *  diffused  throughout  the  whole  community  ; 
and  in  all  manner  of  provisions  ^  '  as  well  for  life,  as  in  come, 
Beefe,  Muttons,  Hides,  and  Cloathes,  as  for  luxurie  in  wines 
silkes,  and  spices,  and  for  defence  as  in  pitch,  tarr.  Cordage, 
timber.  All  which  they  have  not  only  in  competent  proportion 
for  their  use,  but  are  likewise  able  from  their  severall  Magazines 
to  supply  their  neighbour  countries,' 

Why  not,  then,  assert  our  rights  and  draw  profit  from  our 
own  resources  ?    And  why  not  take  lessons  from  the  industrious, 

^  pp.  129-31  :  'Amsterdam,  Leyden,  and  Midleburgh  having  bin  lately 
twice  enlarged  '  and  their  streets  and  buildings  improved  and  '  so  faire, 
and  orderly  set  forth  that  for  beauty,  &  strength  they  may  compare  with 
any  other  in  the  world,  upon  which  they  bestow  infinite  summes  of  money, 
all  originally  flowing  from  the  bountie  of  the  sea,  from  whence  by  their 
labour  and  industry  they  derive  the  beginning  of  all  that  wealth  and 
greatnesse'.    pp.  130-1. 

2  pp.  132-3:  Not  only  can  they  repel  foreign  invasions,  *as  lately  in  the 
warre  betweene  them,  and  Spaine\  but  they  'have  likewise  stretched  their 
power  into  the  East,  and  West  Indies  in  many  places  whereof  they  are 
Lords  of  the  sea  coasts,  and  have  likewise  fortified  upon  the  maine,  where 
the  Kings,  and  people  are  at  their  devotion.  And  more  then  this  all  neigh- 
bour Princes  in  their  differences  by  reason  of  this  their  power  at  Sea,  are 
glad  to  have  them  of  their  partie.  So  that  next  to  the  English  they  are  now 
become  the  most  redoubted  Nation  at  Sea  of  any  other  whatsoever.' 

^  pp.  134-6:  'Above  thirtie  yeares  since,  over  and  above  the  customes 
of  other  Merchandise  excises,  Licences,  Wastage,  and  Lastage,  there 
was  payed  to  the  State  for  custome  of  herring  and  other  salt  fish  above 
300000  pound  in  one  yeare  besides  the  tenth  fish,  and  Caske  payed  for 
wastage,  which  cometh  at  the  least  to  as  much  more  among  the  Hollanders 
onely,  whereunto  the  tenth  of  other  Nations  being  added  it  amounteth  to 
a  far  greater  summe.  Wee  are  likewise  to  know  that  great  part  of  their 
fish  is  sold  in  other  Countries  for  ready  money  for  which  they  commonly 
export  of  the  finest  gold,  and  silver,  and  coming  home  recoyne  it  of  a  baser 
allay  under  their  owne  stampe,  which  is  not  a  small  meanes  to  augment 
their  publique  treasure.'  *  pp.  136-42.  ^  pp.  142-3' 


140    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

skilful,  and  well-organized  Hollanders  ?  *  Reflect  that  by 
erecting  two  hundred  and  fifty  busses  of  '  reasonable  strength 
and  bignesse'  employment  would  be  made  for  i,ooo  ships,  and 
for  at  least  10,000  fishermen  and  mariners,  '  and  consequently 
for  as  many  tradesmen,  and  labourers  at  land  '.  The  herrings 
taken  by  the  busses  would  afford  his  Majesty  '  200,000 1.  yearely 
custome  outward,  and  for  commodities  returned  inward 
30000  1.  and  above  '.^ 

*  For  conclusion  seeing  by  that  which  hath  formerly  bin 
declared  it  evidently  appeareth  that  the  Kings  of  England 
by  immemorable  prescription,  continuall  usage,  and  posses- 
sion, the  acknowledgment  of  all  our  neighbour  States  and  the 
municipall  lawes  of  the  Kingdome  have  ever  held  the 
Soveraigne  Lordship  of  the  Seas  of  England,  and  that  unto  his 
Majestie,  by  reason  of  his  Soveraigntie  the  supreame  command 
and  Jurisdiction  over  the  passage,  and  fishing  in  the  same 
rightfully  appertaineth,  considering  also  the  naturall  scite 
of  those  our  Seas  that  interpose  themselves  between  the  great 
Northerne  commerce  of  that  of  the  whole  world,  and  that 
of  the  East^  West,  and  Southerns  Clymates,  and  withall  the 
infinite  commodities  that  by  fishing  in  the  same  is  daily  made. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  but  his  Majesty  by  meanes  of  his  owne 
excellent  wisdome,  and  vertue,  and  by  the  Industry  of  his 
faithfull  Subjects  and  people  may  easily  without  Injustice  to 
any  Prince  or  person  whatsoever  be  made  the  greatest  Monarch 
for  Command  and  Wealth,  and  his  people  the  most  opiolent 
and  flourishing  Nation  of  any  other  in  the  world.  And  this 
the  rather,  for  that  his  Majesty  is  now  absolute  Commander 
of  the  Brittish  Isle,  and  hath  also  enlarged  his  Dominions  over 
a  great  part  of  the  Westerne  Indies ;  by  meanes  of  which 
extent  of  Empire  (crossing  in  a  manner  the  whole  Ocean) 
the  trade,  and  persons  of  all  Nations  (moving  from  one  part 
of  the  World  to  the  other)  must,  of  necessitie,  first,  or  last, 
come  within  compasse  of  his  power,  and  jurisdiction.* 

*  The  Soveraignty  oj  the  British  Seas,  pp.  147-56.  *  pp.  146-7. 

^  Compare  Bacon,  in  his  Essay  '  Of  the  true  greatness  of  Kingdoms  and 
Estates  ' :  '  Surely,  at  this  day,  with  us  of  Europe,  the  vantage  of  streng^- 


'  The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea  *  141 

'  And  therefore  the  Soveraignty  of  our  Seas  being  the  most 
precious  Jewell  of  his  Maiesties  Crowne,  and  (next  under  God) 
the  principall  meanes  of  our  Wealth  and  Safetie,  all  true 
English  hearts  and  hands  are  bound  by  all  possible  meanes  and 
diligence  to  preserve  and  maintaine  the  same,  even  with  the 
uttermost  hazzard  of  their  lives,  their  goods,  and  fortunes.'  ^ 

(which  is  one  of  the  principal  dowries  of  this  kingdom  of  Great  Britain)  is 
great ;  both  because  most  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  are  not  merely 
inland,  but  girt  with  the  sea  most  part  of  their  compass,  and  because  the 
wealth  of  both  Indies  seems,  in  great  part,  but  an  accessory  to  the  command 
of  the  seas.' 
^  pp.  160-5. 


5 

Treaties 

*  Tout  le  monde  s^ait ',  wrote  I'Abbe  de  Mably,  '  que  les 
Traites  sont  les  archives  des  Nations,  qu'ils  renferment  les 
titres  de  tous  les  peuples,  les  engagements  reciproques  qui 
les  lient,  les  loix  qu'ils  se  sont  imposees,  les  droits  qu'ils  ont 
acquis  ou  perdus.  II  est,  si  je  ne  me  trompe,  peu  de  connois- 
sances  aussi  importantes  que  celle-la  pour  des  hommes  d'Etat, 
&  meme  pour  de  simples  citoyens  s'ils  s^avent  penser ;  il  en 
est  peu  cependant  qui  soient  plus  negligees.'  ^ 

It  was  well  said  by  the  editor  of  a  Collection  of  Treaties 
published  in  1772  that  to  a  statesman  a  Collection  of  Treaties 
is  a  code  or  body  of  Law,  and  to  him  is  of  the  same  use  as  is 
a  Collection  of  the  Statutes  to  the  lawyer.^  But  their  historical 
place  and  value  must  never  be  lost  to  sight.  They  are  to  be 
viewed  as  marking  points  in  the  movement  of  thought.' 

The  relation  of  a  Treaty  to  '  the  Law '  may  well  give  rise 
to  doubt.  On  this  thorny  subject  the  conclusions  of  Madison,* 
the  American  statesman  and  one  of  the  three  contributors 
to  The  Federalist,  had  the  approval  of  Sir  Travers  Twiss.* 
Treaties,  said  Madison,  may  be  considered  in  several  relations 

*  Le  Droit  Public  de  FEurope,  Jonde  sur  les  Traites.,  par  M.  I'Abbe  de 
Mably,  171 7  (2  vols.),  3rd  ed.  (3  vols.),  1764.    Preface  to  vol.  i. 

*  A  Collection  oj  all  the  Treaties  oj  Peace,  Alliance,  and  Commerce, 
between  Great  Britain  and  other  Powers,  jrom  the  Revolution  in  1688,  to  the 
Present  Time,     z  vols.  (1772). 

'  W.  E.  Hall,  cited  above,  p.   113. 

*  Examination  of  the  British  Doctrine,  1806,  p.  39. 

*  The  Law  oJ  Nations  .  .  .  in  Time  of  Peace,  2nd  ed.  (1884),  PP-  '64-5. 


Treaties  143 

to  the  Law  of  Nations  according  to  the  several  questions  that 
are  to  be  decided. 

'  They  may  be  considered  as  simply  repeating  or  affirming  the 
General  Law :  they  may  be  considered  as  making  exceptions 
to  the  General  Law,  which  are  to  be  a  particular  Law  to  the 
parties  themselves :  they  may  be  considered  as  explanatory 
of  the  Law  of  Nations  on  points  where  its  meaning  is  other- 
wise obscure  or  unsettled,  in  which  case  they  are  first  a  Law 
between  the  parties  themselves,  and  next  a  sanction  to  the 
General  Law,  according  to  the  reasonableness  of  the  explana- 
tion, and  the  number  and  character  of  the  parties  to  it  : 
lastly,  treaties  may  be  regarded  as  forming  a  voluntary  or 
positive  Law  of  Nations.  Whether  the  stipulations  of  a  treaty 
are  to  be  considered  as  an  affirmance,  or  an  exception  or  an 
explanation,  may  sometimes  appear  upon  the  face  of  the 
treaty  ;  sometimes,  being  naked  stipulations,  their  character 
must  be  determined  by  resorting  to  other  evidences  of  the 
Law  of  Nations.  In  other  words,  the  question  concerning 
the  Treaty  must  be  decided  by  the  Law,  not  the  question 
concerning  the  Law  by  the  Treaty.' 

Collection  of  treaties 

There  are  many  collections  ^  of  treaties,  and  of  treaty- 
documents,  both  general  and  national.  Only  a  few  need  be 
mentioned  here. 

{a)  General : 

Dumont,  Corps  Universel  Diplomatique  ;  ^ 

Koch  et  SchoU,  Histoire  abregee  des  Traites  from  1648  to 
1815,^  with  full  text  of  some  and  a  connecting  narrative,  and 
the  revival  and  continuation  of  the  work  by  le  Comte  de  Garden ; 

^  A  considerable  impetus  to  the  study  of  treaties  was  given  by  Leibnitz 
towards  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century.  On  the  unfavouring 
eyes  with  which  the  Cabinets  of  Europe  viewed  the  publication  of  their 
treaties  in  a  collection,  see  Travers  Twiss,  op.  cit.,  pp.  xxix-xxx. 

2  8  vols.,  1726-31.  '  15  vols.,  1815-17. 


144   The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

Martens  (G.  F.  de),  Recueil  des  principaux  traites  de  paixy 
d* alliance  .  .  .  depuis  ij6i  jusqu'd  nos  jours  ^  (1808),  with  con- 
tinuations *  by  G.  F.  de  Martens  himself,  his  nephew  C.  de 
Martens,  and  others,  down  to  our  own  day — a  standard  work  ; 

Das  Staatsarchiv  —  Sammlung  der  officiellen  Actensiiicke  zur 
Geschichte  der  Gegenwart ;  '    Archives  diplomatiques  —  Recueil 
mensuel  de  droit  international^  de  diplomatie  et  d'histoire ;  *  Albin, 
Les  Grands  Traites  politique^  since  1815.® 
(b)  British  : 

Rymer,  Foedera^  and  Syllabus  to  the  work  by  Sir  T.  D.  Hardy, 
issued  for  the  Record  Commission ;  ' 

C.  Jenkinson  (later.  Earl  of  Liverpool),  A  Collection  of  all 
the  Treaties  of  Peace  .  .  .  between  Great  Britain  and  other  Powers 
from  1648  to  1783;® 

*  8  vols.,  1791-1808- 

^  Nouveau  Recueil^  16  vols.,  Nouveau  Recueil  General,  &c 

^  A  periodical  publication  since   1861.     It  is  the  chief  collection  for 

European  States  as  a  whole,  and  is  especially  designed  as  a  collection  of 

diplomatic  documents. 

*  First  and  second  series,  1 861 -1900;  continued  thereafter,  four  volvunes 
being  published  yearly. 

••  1910.  See  also  The  Great  European  Treaties  oj  the  Nineteenth  Centuryy 
1 91 8  (Clarendon  Press). 

*  Arcbiva  regia  reserata,  sive  foedera . . .  inter  reges  Angliae  et  alios  quosvis 
ab  ineunte  saeculo  XII"*".  The  work  began  with  the  reign  of  Henry  I 
and  came  down  to  1654.  There  were  subsequent  editions  which  need  to  be 
distinguished.  Rymer's  work  was  a  Government  publication,  suggested  by 
that  of  Leibnitz.    He  was  Historiographer  Royal  from  1692  to  1714. 

'  2  vols.,  1869-72  (vol.  i,  to  1377;  vol.  ii,  1377-1654). 

'  3  vols.,  1785.  This  is  the  second  edition  of  the  work  published  in  2  vols, 
in  1772.  In  the  Advertisement  (pp.  v-vi)  to  this  earlier  work  it  was  said  : 
'  A  Collection  of  Treaties  was  published  in  the  Year  1732  ;  and  is  now  very 
scarce.  The  Treaties  contained  in  that  Work  are  not  only  very  irregularly 
arranged,  but  upon  comparing  them  with  the  detached  copies  published  by 
Authority,  were  found  to  be  very  inaccurately  printed  ;  and  some  Treaties 
were  wholly  omitted.'    The  work'of  1732  was  in  4  vols. 


Treaties  145 

Chalmers,  A  Collection  of  Maritime  treaties  of  Great  Britain 
and  other  Powers  ;  ^ 

Hertslet,  A  Complete  Collection  of  the  Treaties  and  Conventions 
at  present  subsisting  between  Great  Britain  y  Foreign  Powers  ; 
so  far  as  they  relate  to  Commerce  ^  Navigation  ;  to  the  Repression 
and  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade  ;  and  to  the  Privileges  Cif 
Interests  of  the  Subjects  of  the  High  Contracting  Parties.  The 
Whole  in  English,  i^  the  Modern  Treaties  i^  most  important 
Documents,  also  in  the  Foreign  Languages  in  which  they  were 
signed? 

Treaty  Series.'^ 
Originals  of  British  Treaties  are  in  the  Public  Record  Office  ; 
also  Treaty  Papers  and  State  Papers,  Foreign.     The  British 
Museum  Catalogues  (MSS.)  should  also  be  consulted. 

^  2  vols.,  1790. 

^  By  Lewis  Hertslet,  Esq.,  Librarian  and  Keeper  of  the  Papers,  Foreign 
Office.  The  work  was  published  in  2  vols.,  1820.  It  has  been  continued  to 
date.  The  Treaties  with  Austria  go  back  to  the  Treaty  of  Alliance  signed 
at  Toplitz,  October  3,  1813  ;  with  Denmark,  to  the  Treaty  signed  at  White- 
hall, February  13,  1 660-1 661  ;  with  France,  to  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht, 
March  31 -April  11,  1713  ;  with  Portugal,  to  the  Treaty  signed  at  London, 
January  29,  1642  ;  with  Spain,  to  the  Treaty  signed  at  Madrid,  May  13-23, 
1667;  with  Sweden,  to  the  Treaty  signed  at  Upsal,  April  11,  1654  ;  with 
Turkey,  to  the  Capitulation  and  Articles  of  Peace  of  1675;  with  the 
United  States  of  America,  to  the  Treaty  of  Peace  signed  at  Ghent,  Decem- 
ber 24,  1 814.  For  Treaties,  Acts,  and  Declarations  on  the  Slave  Trade,  and 
on  trade  with  the  Colonies,  see  especially  vol.  ill  (1827). 

^  First  volume  1 892,  and  a  volume  yearly  thereafter. 


Maps  ;  and  their  Historical  Background 

Maps  are  rarely  on  an  adequate  scale.  The  following  are 
good  Hand  Atlases  : 

(i)  An  Atlas  volume  to  the  Cambridge  Modern  History^  with 
a  historical  introduction  of  about  one  hundred  pages ; 

(2)  Poole,  Historical  Atlas  of  Modern  Europe,  with  concise 
articles  ; 

(3)  Droysen,  Allgemeiner  historischer  HandatlaSy  with  text. 
Of  very  high  value  is  The  Map  of  Europe  by  Treaty^  since  18 14, 

by  Edward  Hertslet — z  work  to  which  many  writers  have  been 
indebted. 

The  work  consists  of  four  volumes.  Of  these  the  first 
extends  from  the  first  Treaty  of  Peace  of  Paris,  May  18 14,  to 
1827;  the  second  from  1828  to  1863;  the  third  from  1863 
to  1875  ;  and  the  fourth  from  1875  to  1891.  There  is  a  helpful 
Index,  pp.  2,101-399. 

The  author's  object  was  to  bring  together  in  a  collected  form 
the  various  documents  that  have  given  treaty  sanction  to  the 
territorial  changes  made  in  Europe  since  18 14,  and  which,  in 
thus  defining  the  landmarks  of  Europe,  *  constitute  the 
Title-Deeds  of  the  European  Family '.  The  arrangement  of 
the  documents  is  chronological.  Each  treaty  is  preceded  by 
a  Table  of  Contents,  and  for  each  article  there  is  a  descriptive 
heading.     Where  the  details  are  not  of  European  interest, 

*  The  Map  oj  Europe  by  Treaty,  showing  the  various  Political  and  Terri- 
torial Changes  which  have  taken  place  since  1 814.  With  numerous  Maps  and 
Notes.  By  Edward  Hertslet,  C.B.,  Librarian  and  Keeper  of  the  Papers, 
Foreign  Office  ;  first  volume,  1 875.   The  Treaty  of  Ghent  of  1 814  is  included. 


Maps  ;  and  their  Historical  Background   147 

only  the  purport  of  the  clauses  of  treaties  is  given.  English 
is  the  language  used  throughout. 

'  That  these  Engagements ',  says  the  author,  '  have  been 
contracted,  in  many  instances,  with  the  avowed  object  of 
maintaining  the  Balance  of  Power,  may  be  readily  tested  by 
referring  to  the  Index  under  that  heading.'  ^ 

Many  of  these  engagements  have  been  preceded  or  followed 
by  European  Conferences,  and  descriptions  are  given  in  some 
detail  of  the  deliberations  of  the  most  important  of  these. 
References  are  given  to  the  volumes  of  the  State  Papers  in 
which  the  Protocols  are  to  be  found.  The  work  contains, 
further.  Declarations  of  War ;  Treaties  for  the  European 
Guarantee  of  Independence  and  Neutrality  of  certain  States ; 
Decrees  annexing  Territories,  and  Protests  of  the  Possessors 
against  Annexations. 

Owing  to  the  frequent  references  to  the  Vienna  Congress 
Treaty  of  1815  in  such  Protests,  the  Index  gives  a  key  to  all 
such  references  in  subsequent  European  Documents. 

In  an  Appendix  are  given  copies  of  Treaties,  or  extracts 
from  Treaties,  which  were  concluded  before  1814,^  but  are 
alluded  to  in  the  body  of  the  work  as  being  still  valid,  and  there 
is  a  reference  to  the  volumes  of  the  State  Papers,  in  which 
will  be  found  extracts  from  and  references  to  other  docu- 
ments not  themselves  inserted  in  the  body  of  the  work  in  order 
of  date.  ^ 

The  Index  gives  exact  reference  to  every  name  and  to  every 
subject  mentioned  in  the  several  Treaties  or  other  interna- 
tional documents  contained  in  the  work. 

^  Introduction,  p.  ix.  There  are  twenty-six  entries  under  this  heading 
in  the  Index  for  1814-75  ;  see,  further,  *  Peace  of  Europe  '  entries. 

-  Since  1641. 

3  See  vol.  iii,  pp.  1 977-2074.  The  pagination  is  continuous  for  the  four 
volumes. 

L  2 


148     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

The  maps  are  sufficient  in  themselves,  owing  to  their  nurnber, 
their  scope,  and  their  clearness,  to  make  the  work  one  of  great 
value.  The  three  general  maps  of  Europe,  showing  the 
boundaries  as  fixed  by  the  Vienna  Congress  Treaty  of  181 5, 
as  in  1875,  and  as  in  1891,  are  found  on  p.  274  (the  first  volume), 
p.  1976  (the  third  volume),  and  p.  3204  (the  fourth  volume). 
In  the  fourth  volume  there  is  a  valuable  series  of  maps  illustra- 
ting the  effects  of  the  treaty  arrangements  of  1878. 

For  the  author  it  may  be  claimed  that  he  has  fulfilled  his 
object.  Owing  to  the  completeness  and  the  connected  form 
in  which  he  has  presented  the  necessary  documents  both 
primary  and  supplementary,  the  inquirer  is  no  longer  called 
upon  to  consult  several  Collections  of  Treaties,  some  of  them  not 
easily  accessible  in  any  one  country,  or  to  refer  to  Blue  Books 
laid  before  Parliament  on  the  subjects  in  question,  or  to 
State  Papers,  or  even  to  accounts,  apart  from  estimates,  of  the 
events  contained  in  Treatises  on  International  Law  or  inter- 
national questions. 


Supplementary  Reading 

I.  (a)  Machiavelli/  //  Principe  :  the  best  edition  is  that 
by  Burd,  with  an  Introduction  by  Lord  Acton  and  copious 
and  scholarly  notes  by  the  editor ;  -  the  best  English  translation 
is  that  by  N.  H.  Thomson.^ 

{b)  N.  H.  Thomson,  Counsels  and  Reflections  of  Guicciardini.'^ 
(c)  Dallington,  Aphorismes  Civill  and  Militarie  :    Amplified 
with  Authorities,  and  exemplified  with  Historie,  out  of  the  first 
Quarterne  of  Fr.  Guicciardine  :  ^ 

'  The  Argument  is  generall,  wherein  the  publicke  Minister 
may  meet  with  his  experience,  the  Souldier  with  his  practise, 
the  Scholler  with  his  reading :  and  every  of  these  in  his 
owne  Element,  parallel  both  the  Aphorisme,  Example,  and 
Authorities.  The  Method  is  not  vulgar,  for  though  bookes  of 
Civill  discourse  be  full  of  axiomes.  Philosophers  of  proofes, 
and  Historians  of  instances ;  yet  shall  ye  hardly  meete  them 
all  combined  in  one  couplement.  Out  of  their  legions  of 
Authorities  I  have  drawne  out  these  Maniples,  because  our 
Masters  in  the  art  of  warre  doe  teach  us,  that  these  are  more 
readie  for  use,  upon  all  sodaine  occasion  of  service.  I  have 
enter-laced  them  with  variety  of  Language,  to  procure  his 
better  appetite  for  whom  they  were  written.  I  was  the  more 
plentifull  in  Authorities,  because,  to  read  many  and  great 
volumes,  few  young  men  have  the  will,  no  Prince  hath  the 
leisure.  It  is  true,  many  of  them  may  serve  to  severall 
Aphorismes,  so  doth  the  workmans  Last  for  severall  men's 
wearing,  and  yet  neither  the  shooe  is  cut,  or  foote  pinched  : 
Nor  are  they  so  loose  but  that  with  Lipsius  ®  Soder  you  may 

^  See  above,  *  Diplomacy  and  the  Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  ',  pp.  22  5. 
2  1891.  *  2nd  ed.,  1897. 

4  1890:  e.g.  Nos.  6,  30,  41,  48,  76,  78,  109,  140,  147,  336,  345.  See 
above,  pp.  25-6.  ^  i6i3' 

*  Justus   Lipsius,    1 547-1 606,   Professor    at    Leyden    and   Louvain,   a 


150    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

cyment  them  together,  and  make  them  con-center  in  the 
main  proposition.  ...  In  the  Examples  I  have  bound  my  selfe 
to  the  truth  of  the  history,  but  used  my  liberty  for  the  phrase 
and  manner  of  relation.'  * 

Aphorisme  XVI.  of  Lib.  3  :  *  He  that  weareth  his  heart  in 
his  fore-head,  and  is  of  an  ouvert  and  transparent  nature,  through 
whose  words,  as  through  cristall  ye  may  see  into  every  corner  of 
his  thoughts  :  That  man  is  fitter  for  a  table  of  good  fellowship ^ 
then  a  Councell  table  :  For  upon  the  Theater  of  publicke  imploy- 
ment  either  in  peace  or  war,  the  actors  must  of  necessity  weare 
vizards,  and  change  them  in  every  Scene.  Because,  the  generall 
good  and  safety  of  a  State,  is  the  Center  in  which  all  their  actions 
and  counsailes,  must  meet :  To  which  men  cannot  alwaies  arrive 
by  plaine  pathes  and  beaten  waies.  Wherefore  a  Prince  may 
pretend  a  desire  of  friendship  with  the  weaker,  when  hee  meaneSy 
and  must,  contract  it  with  the  stronger.  Hee  may  sometimes 
leave  the  common  highway,  and  take  downe  an  un  used  by  path 
in  the  lesser  of  dangers,  so  hee  be  sure  to  recompence  it  in  the 
greater  of  safeties  ^ 

Aphorisme  XXII.  of  Lib.  5  :  ^  As  in  things  we  have,  so  in 
those  we  doe,  each  hath  his  proper  tryall,  to  prove  the  excellencie 
thereof  in  his  kinde :  Gold  by  the  test,  the  Diamant  by  his 
hardnesse,  Pearle  by  his  water :  So,  the  best  discouverers  of  mens 
minds  are  their  actions  :  the  best  directer  of  actions  is  counsaile  : 
and  the  best  triall  of  counsailes,  is  Experience."*  ' 

A  reading  of  Thucydides  and  of  Tacitus  may  be  substituted 
for  Machiavelli  and  Guicciardini.  For  an  understanding  of 
policy,  of  democracy  (howsoever  defined)  and  of  empire,  the 
pages  of  Thucydides  are  still  unsurpassed.* 

writer  on  Politics,  author  of  Political  Monitions  and  Models  concerning  the 
Virtues  and  Vices  oj  Princes.  The  father  of  Grotius  studied  under  Lipsius, 
who  called  him  his  '  intimate  friend  and  pupil '.  Lipsius  was  also  one  of 
the  admirers  of  the  early  genius  of  Hugo  Grotius.  ^  '  To  the  Reader.' 

*  p.  1 76  of  2nd  ed.  Quotations  from  Tacitus,  Cicero,  and  others  follow  ; 
and  thereafter  an  example  from  History.  '  p.  318. 

*  See,  for  example,  i.  33,  40,41  (the  expedient  and  the  just),  70  (contrast 
of  the  Athenian  and  the    Spartan   character),  75  (Athenian  envoys  at 


Supplementary  Reading  151 

2.  An  extensive  anti-Machiavel  ^  literature,  due  mainly  to 
uncritical  interpretation  of  The  Prince  and  to  ignorance 
regarding  Machiavelli's  other  works,  as  well  as  to  '  Machia- 
vellian '  practice. 

3.  (a)  Merriman,  Life  and  Letters  of  Thomas  Cromzvell,^ 
e.  g.  Letters  218  and  222. 

(b)  Clarendon,  History  of  the  Rebellion,  Book  XIV ;  and 
Gardiner,  History  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate, 
vol.  ii,^  on  Oliver  Cromwell's  foreign  policy  in  1654. 

4.  {a)  Gentilis,  De  Legationibus  :  "* 

'  Legalem  itaque,  ethicum  et  politicum — at  e  Peripato — 
philosophum,  Legatum  volo  ;  at  etiam  sobrie.  Volo  non  ex 
umbra    eum    scholarum    deduci,    sed    educatum    in    consiliis 

Sparta  :  '  The  development  of  our  power  was  at  first  forced  upon  us  by 
circumstances  :  our  first  motive  was  fear  ;  later,  ambition  was  added,  and 
then  interest '),  76-7,  93  (sea-power) ;  ii.  8,  36  (Funeral  Oration  of  Pericles), 
64  ('  Your  empire  is  at  stake  :  it  is  too  late  to  relinquish  it,  for  you  are 
already  hated  ')  ;  iii.  37  (Cleon's  speech  on  the  Mitylenaean  rebels  :  I  have 
said  more  than  onee  that  a  democracy  cannot  conduct  an  empire),  38 
(*  You  are  always  hankering  after  an  ideal  state  :  you  do  not  give  your 
minds  to  what  is  straight  before  you  '),  40  ('  Do  not  be  misled  by  the  charm 
of  words  or  by  a  too  forgiving  disposition  '),  44,  46  (administration  and  its 
salutary  effects),  47  (the  higher  expediency  in  the  conduct  of  great  affairs), 
82  (the  sway  of  imperious  necessities),  83  (the  revolutionary  character  of 
the  year  427  b.c.)  ;  v.  89  (justice  and  necessity),  92-112  (the  Athenians 
and  the  Melians  :  dominion  and  dependence ;  interests  and  security : 
'  To  uphold  our  rights  in  relation  to  our  equals,  to  be  politic  with  superiors, 
and  to  be  moderate  towards  inferiors — that  is  the  path  of  safety  ') ;  vi. 
1 1 -1 3  (Nicias  and  the  proposed  Sicilian  expedition  :  Conserve  and  develop 
your  own  resources  :  contain  your  ambition  :  the  Sicilians  have  their  own 
country  :  let  them  manage  their  own  affairs),  1 8  (Alcibiades  :  Inactivity 
spells  our  ruin  :  '  You  cannot  afford  to  regard  inaction  in  the  same  light  as 
others,  unless  you  put  a  corresponding  limit  to  your  policy  '),  39  (Athena- 
goras  on  a  true  democracy),  84,  85  (expediency  and  empire),  87. 

^  See  above,  pp.  76-7,  foot-note.  ^  2  vols.,  1902. 

3  1897;   especially  chapters  xxxiii  and  xxxiv.  *  1585. 


152    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

rerum,  atque  in  imperiorum    administratione  versatum.  .  .  . 
Fori  aliud  ius  est,  aliud  regni.'  ^ 

ib)  De  Abusu  Mendacii,  dedicated  to  a  Bishop.  We  may 
compare  with  it  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pacts,  ii.  5,  '  de  mendaciis '  : 
'  Respondeo  autem  contingere  varie  posse,  ut  quis  mendacio 
utatur  adversus  hostes.' 

5.  {a)  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  traduit  de  I'Espagnol  en 
Francois,  par  Le  Sieur  Lancelot.^  The  work  is  in  the  form  of 
a  dialogue  where  '  Jule  '  is  of  the  Mazarin  type  : 

*  Definition  de  la  charge  d'Ambassadeur  ; '  Qui  fut  I'auteur 
de  la  premiere  Ambassade  ;  *  On  ne  pent  estre  bon  Ambassa- 
deur,  sans  estre  bon  Orateur  ;  ^  Pourquoi  Aaron  fut  Collegue 
de  Moyse  vers  Pharaon  ;  ^  Comment  un  Ambassadeur  doit 
proceder  entre  I'utile  &  I'honneste ; '  Si  1' Ambassadeur  se 
pent  servir  de  I'entremise  des  femmes  pour  le  progrez  de  ses 
affaires ;  Les  femmes  sont  ordinairemens  les  premieres  adverties 
des  secrets ;  Exemples  de  plusieurs  grands  secrets  revelez  par 
les  femmes ;  Doute,  si  les  femmes  peuvent  estre  Ambassa- 
drices ;  Dames  employees  en  Ambassades ;  ^  De  la  menterie 
officieuse ;  Si  1' Ambassadeur  pent  uzer  de  menterie  au  Prince 
Estranger ;  Instructions  sur  ce  point  ;  *  Exemple  d'une 
subtile  dexterite  de  certains  Ambassadeurs  de  Florence ; 
Ruse  &  contre-ruse ;  ^^  Pourquoi  il  faut  qu'un  Ambassadeur 
soit  riche  ;  Inconvenients  de  la  pauvrete  &  de  1' excessive 
richesse  ;  ^^  Les  Ambassadeurs  Venissiens  ne  peuvent  recevoir 
aucuns  presens ;  ^^   Comme  les  Ambassadeurs  se  doivent  gou- 

*  111.  X. 

*  i2rao,pp.  (vi4-)  602  (+  12  pages  of  a  summary  of  contents),  published 
at  Paris,  1642.  The  original  work.  El  Atnbaxador,  by  Antonio  de  Vera 
(Spanish  Minister  at  Venice),  was  published  in  1621.  For  extracts  sec 
Appendix,  pp.  216  sqq.  ;   also  p.  17,  above.  '  pp.  32-3,  36. 

*  PP-  53~4-  *  PP-  ^77~^'i  see  p.  17,  above. 

*  p.  183  ;  sec  p.  17,  above.  '  pp.  218-29. 

»  pp.  282-7.        "  PP-  297-31 5-        "  PP-  3 '5-17-         "  PP-  353.  355- 
^'  p.  359:   '  Entre  plusieurs  mervclUeuses  ordonnances  dc  la  Republiquc 

dc  Venise,  il  y  en  a  unc  qui  dcffcnd  cxpressemcnt  a  Icurs  Ambassadeurs  de 

recevoir  aucun  present  du  Prince  ou  ils  resident.' 


Supplementary  Reading  153 

verner  pour  acquerir  des  intelligences  par  presens ;  ^  Qu'un 
Ambassadeur  doit  estre  sobre,  &  sabstenir  des  mets  exquis ; 
Qu'il  se  devoit  abstenir  de  boire  du  vin  aux  banquets ;  ^  En 
quels  cas  un  Ambassadeur  peut  temoigner  sa  hardiesse  &  son 
courage  ;  ^  Que  I'usage  du  chiffre  est  fort  necessaire  a  I'Am- 
bassadeur  ;  Accidents  advenus  faute  de  se  servir  des  chiffres ; 
Les  instructions  des  Ambassadeurs  doivent  estre  ecrites  en 
chiffres ;  Raisons  au  contraire  ;  *  Le  secret  est  fort  recommen- 
dable  a  I'Ambassadeur  entre  toutes  autres  qualitez.^ 

'  Indice  des  plus  belles  Harangues,  dispersees  en  tous  les 
Historiens,  tans  anciens  que  modernes,  apropriees  aux  plus 
importantes  matieres  de  I'Ambassade.'  ^ 

{b)  Wicquefort,'  V Ambassadeur  et  ses  Fonctions,^  which  was 

^  P-  363- 

^  PP-  388,  389  :   '  Secrets  decouvers  a  cause  du  vin  ' ;  p.  391. 

^PP- 393-4-  *PP- 467-73- 

''  pp.  572-3,  574.  '  Raisons  au  contraire  de  la  precedante  contre  la 
loiiange  des  Venissiens  a  garder  le  secret',  pp.  576-8. 

^  PP-  585-602  ;  e.g.  *  Pour  faciliter  une  entreprise  difficile,  soit  militaire 
ou  civile,  &  contester  I'opinion  contraire  ',  pp.  596-7. 

'  1 598-1 682.  Wicquefort  was  born  at  Amsterdam.  He  became  minister 
resident  of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  at  Paris,  1628.  He  continued  in 
this  office  until  1658,  when  Cardinal  Mazarin,  having  intercepted  his  corre- 
spondence of  a  character  offensive  to  the  Cardinal's  government,  ordered 
him  to  leave  the  kingdom,  and,  on  his  refusing,  imprisoned  him  in  the 
Bastile,  whence  he  was  sent  under  escort  to  Calais,  and  embarked  for 
England.  '  On  his  return  to  his  native  country,  Wicquefort  was  appointed, 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  Pensionary  John  de  Witt,  historiographer 
of  the  republic  and  secretary  interpreter  of  despatches.  Whilst  in  these 
employments,  Wicquefort  received  a  secret  pension  from  Louis  XIV, 
was  named  by  the  Duke  of  Luneburg  his  resident  at  the  Hague,  and  being 
accused  in  1675  of  revealing  the  secrets  of  the  state  to  foreigners,  was 
tried  and  sentenced  by  the  supreme  court  of  Holland  to  imprisonment  for 
life.  He  remained  in  prison  until  1679,  when  he  escaped  through  the 
address  and  filial  devotion  of  his  daughter,  and  retired  to  Zell  in  Hanover, 
where  he  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five,  in  1682.'— Wheaton, 
History  of  the  Law  of  Nations,  pp.  234-5. 

8  1679.    '  ^^^  °^  '^he  most  remarkable  works  published  during  the  seven- 


154    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

translated  into  English  by  John  Digby,  under  the  title,  The 
Embassador  and  his  Functions,  to  which  is  added  An  Historical 
Discourse,  concerning  the  Election  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  Electors.'''^ 
On  the  birth  and  learning  of  an  Embassador  ;  ^  Whether 
Clergymen  are  proper  for  Embassies  ;  ^  Of  Instructions  ;  *  Of 
the  Function  of  the  Embassador  in  general ;  ^    Of  Prudence 

teenth  century  on  the  subject  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  ambassadors. 
.  .  .  The  curiously  chequered  life  of  this  intriguing  adventurer  might  almost 
have  furnished  materials  for  his  once  celebrated  treatise,  which  is  rather  of 
an  historical  than  didactic  character,  and  was  written  during  his  long 
imprisonment  in  Holland.' — Wheaton,  op.  cit.,  p.  235. 

^  Small  folio  [171 6],  pp.  (vili  +  )  570,  of  which  pp.  431-570  treat  of 
'  The  Election  of  the  Emperor  '  ;  there  are,  in  addition,  twenty-eight  pages 
of  Index.  An  *  analyse  raisonnee '  of  the  work  is  given  in  Bibliotheque  de 
V Homme  public,  by  Condorcet  (1790),  tome  douzieme,  pp.  6-104.  '  De  tous 
les  auteurs  qui  ont  traite  des  ambassadeurs,  aucun  n'a  rapporte  tant  de 
faits  que  Wicquefort.  .  .  .  Ces  faits  y  sont  mal  distribues,  et  sc  sentent  de 
la  situation  violente  ou  etoit  I'auteur  ;  mais  on  les  y  trouve.  II  ne  cite 
point  ses  garans  5  mais  la  plupart  des  faits  qu'il  rapporte  sont  vrais.  Pour 
les  principes,  il  ne  fait  que  les  entrevoir.' — p.  6.  See  Appendix,  below, 
pp.  Z17  sqq. 

*  Bk.  I,  ch.  vii.  »  gj^,  ,^  ^h.  ix.  *  Bk.  i,  ch.  xiv. 

*  Bk.  II,  ch.  i.  Sec  also  Bk.  i,  ch.  xvi,  pp.  116-21,  '  Of  the  Embassador's 
Powers  '  (*  The  Powers,  with  reference  to  an  Embassador,  are  nothing  else, 
than  what  a  Letter  of  Attorney  is  in  reference  to  a  private  Person  ',  p.  116); 
ch.  xviii,  '  Of  the  Recepdon  and  Entry  of  the  Embassador  ',  pp.  127-48} 
ch.  xix,  '  Of  Audiences ',  pp.  148-64 ;  ch.  xx-xxii,  '  Of  Honours  and 
Civilities',  pp.  164-202;  'Of  the  Apparel  and  Expences ',  pp.  202-8 
('  The  Embassador  Extraordinary  cannot  well  avoid  keeping  an  open 
Table,  if  he  will  do  honour  to  his  Master.  ...  In  the  Courts  of  the  North, 
where  great  Entertainments  make  part  of  the  Negotiation,  this  Expence 
is  very  necessary,  as  well  as  in  Holland,  where  they  take  great  delight  in 
reasoning  between  two  Trestles.  The  Fenns  of  the  Country  produce  a 
multitude  of  Frogs.  The  major  Part  of  Embassadors  do  not  succeed  therein, 
as  well  because  every  Body  is  not  fit  for  it,  as  because  it  is  contrary  to  the 
Dignity  of  the  Character  ') ;  ch.  xxiv, '  Of  the  Competition  between  France 
and    Spain  ',  pp.    208-20 ;     ch.   xxv,  '  Of   Several  Other   Competitions ', 


Supplementary  Reading  155 

and  Cunning ;i  Of  Moderation; 2  Of  Letters  and  Dispatches j^ 
Of  Treaties.4 

{c)  Callieres  ^,  De  la  Maniere  de  negocier  avec  les  Souverains. 
De  Vutilite  des  Negociations,  du  choix  des  Ambassadeurs  ifS  des 
Envoy ez,  if^des  qualitez  necessaires  pour  reiissir  dans  ces  emplois :  * 

De  I'Utilite  des  Negociations ; '  Des  Qualitez  et  de  la  Conduite 
du  Negociateur  ;  ^  Des  connoissances  necessaires  et  utiles  a  un 
Negociateur;*  Des  Fonctions  du  Negociateur  ;io  Observations 

pp.  220-35;  ch.  XXX,  'When  the  Embassador's  Function  ceases', 
pp.  282-93.  1  Bk.  II,  ch.  vi. 

2  Bk.  II,  ch.  viii.  3  Bk.  ii,  ch.  x. 

*  Bk.  II,  ch.  xli.  The  chapter  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  whole  work.  It  is 
followed  by  chapters  entitled,  *  Of  the  Treaties  of  Munster  and  Osnaburg  ' 
[Osnabriick],  ch.  xiii ;  '  The  most  considerable  Treaties  relating  to  the 
Affairs  of  this  Age  ',  ch.  xiv ;  '  Of  Ratifications  ',  ch.  xv  ;  'Of  the  Report 
the  Embassador  makes  of  his  Negotiation  ',  ch.  xvi ;  '  Of  some  illustrious 
Embassadors  of  our  Time  ',  ch.  xvii. 

^  Conseiller  Ordinaire  du  Roi  en  ses  Conseils,  Secretaire  du  Cabinet  de  Sa 
Majeste,  ci-devant  Ambassadeur  Extraordinaire  &  Plenipotentiaire  du  feu 
Roi,  pour  les  Traitez  de  Paix  conclus  a  Ryswyck.  Et  I'un  des  Quarante 
de  I'Academie  Fran^oise. 

*  X2mo,  Amsterdam,  1716,  pp.  (xii+)  252;  dedicated  to  the  Duke  of 
Orleans.  See  Appendix,  below,  pp.  219  sqq.  A  considerable  part  of  the 
work  has  been  quoted  by  Satow,  Diplomatic  Practice  (i  91 7),  i.  1 1 9-27, 129-30, 
132-3-     There  is  an  English  transl.,  Lond.,  1716,  i2mo,  pp.  xvi +  239. 

'  ch.  ii. 

*  ch.  iii,  and  ch.  iv,  *  De  quelques  autres  qualitez  du  Negociateur  '. 
'  ch.  V. 

^^  ch.  viii.  Ch.  vi  is  entitled  '  Des  Ambassadeurs,  des  Envoyez,  et  des 
Residents  ',  and  ch.  vii,  '  Des  Legats,  des  Nonces,  et  des  Internonces  '. 
The  succeeding  chapters  are  :  ch.  ix,  '  Des  Privileges  des  Ministres  Etran- 
gers  '  ;  ch.  x,  '  Des  Ceremonies  et  des  Civilltez  qui  se  pratlquent  entre  les 
Ministres  Etrangers  '  ;  ch.  xi,  '  Des  Lettres  de  Creance,  des  Pleins  Pouvoirs 
et  des  Passeports' ;  ch.  xii,  'Des  Instructions' ;  ch.  xiii,  'Ce  que  doit  faire 
un  Ambassadeur  ou  un  Envoye,  avant  que  de  partir '  ;  ch.  xiv,  '  Ce  que 
doit  faire  un  Negociateur  a  son  Arrivee  dans  une  Cour  Etrangere ' ;  ch.  xv, 
'  Moyens  de  s'insinuer  dans  les  bonnes  graces  d'un  Prince  et  dc  ses  Ministres '. 


i56    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

sur  les  manieres  de  negocier ;  ^  Des  Traitez  et  des  Ratifications  ;2 
Des  Depeches  et  de  ce  qu'il  y  faut  observer  ;  ^  Des  Lettres 
en  Chiffre  ;  *  Du  Choix  des  Negociateurs  ;  ^  Observations 
touchant  le  choix  des  Negociateurs ;  *  S'il  est  utile  d'envoyer 
plusieurs  Negociateurs  en  un  meme  Pays.' 

{d)  Martens  (Charles  de),  Le  Guide  Diplomatique.^ 

The  scope  of  this  standard  work  is  shown  by  the  sub-title :  •, 
'  Precis  des  Droits  et  des  Fonctions  des  Agents  Diplomatiques  et 
Consulaires  ;  suivi  d'un  Traite  des  Actes  et  Offices  divers  qui 
sont  du  ressort  de  la  Diplomatiey  accompagne  de  Pieces  et  Docu- 
ments proposes  comme  exemples,  et  d'une  Bibliotheque  diplomatique 
choisie.' 

Certain  sections  of  the  work  are  more  especially  of  value  for 
the  study  of  international  relations,  and  more  particularly  the 
following  : 

Considerations  generales  sur  I'etude  de  la  Diplomatie  ;  ^® 
Du  Ministere  des  Affaires  Etrangeres  et  de  son  Chef ;  ^^  Des 
Ministres  publics  et  des  Missions  diplomatiques  en  general ;  ^^ 
De  I'Envoi  des  Agents  diplomatiques  et  de  I'etablissement  de 
leur  caractere  public  ;^^  Des  devoirs  et  des  fonctions  de  1' Agent 

^  ch.  xvi.  ^  ch.  xviij.  '  ch.  xix. 

*  ch.  XX.  5  ch.  xxi.  •  ch.  xxii.  '  ch.  xxiii. 

*  1 832  ;  also,  Le  Manuel  diplomatique,  1 822.  A  fourth  edition  of  Le 
Guide  Diplomatique  was  pubUshcd  in  1 85 1  ;  a  fifth,  with  notes  by  Geffcken, 
in  1856.    See  Appendix,  below,  pp.  zio  sqq.,  for  extracts. 

*  See  fourth  edition  by  Wegmann,  2  vols.,  pp.  xxvi+  512,  and  xii+  607. 
The  third  edition  (3  vols.,  1837)  was  unauthorized  by  Martens,  and  in  a  note 
to  the  Preface  of  the  fourth  edition  he  wrote  :  '  L' edition  actuelle  est 
desormais  la  seule  que  nous  entendions  rcconnaitre  '. 

"  i,  pp.  1-28. 

^'  i,  pp.  29-37,  with  foot-notes  which  hcic,  as  throughout  the  work,  are 
of  value.  ^*  i,  pp.  38-53. 

^'  i,  pp.  66-82,  with  sections  '  des  lettres  de  creance,  des  pleins-pouvoiis, 
des  instructions,  du  chiffre  '  (see  foot-notes,  pp.  77-9),  and  '  des  passc-ports 
et  des  saufs-conduits '. 


Supplementary  Reading  157 

diplomatique ;  ^  Observations  generales  sur  le  style  diploma- 
tique ;  2  De  la  langue  employee  dans  les  relations  diploma- 
tiques;^  Actes  Publics  emanes  d'un  Gouvernement ;  *  Pieces 
et  Documents  concernant  I'etablissement  du  caractere  public 
de  I'Agent  diplomatique,  ainsi  que  I'exercice  et  la  cessation  de 
ses  fonctions ;  ^  Correspondance  diplomatique  ;  '^  Congres  et 
Conferences,' 

{e)  Satow  (Sir  Ernest),  A  Guide  to  Diplomatic  Practice.^ 
The  intention  of  the  author  '  was  to  produce  a  work  which 
would  be  of  service  alike  to  the  international  lawyer,  the  diplo- 
matist, and  the  student  of  history.'  ^     Accordingly,  both  the 

^  i,  pp.  167-201.  2  ij^  pp_  i_^_  3  ji^  pp  6_g 

*  ii,  pp.  31-195  :  manifestes  et  proclamations;  declarations  ('  en  quelque 
sorte  des  memoires  dont  le  but  est  de  refuter  des  bruits  mal  fondes,  de 
justifier  des  mesures  deja  prises  ou  a  prendre,  ou  bien  d'instruire  le  public 
des  demarches  faites  ou  a  faire',  ii,  p.  56);  exposes  de  motifs  de  conduite  ; 
traites  publics  et  conventions  ;  de  la  signature  des  traites  ;  des  cartels  ; 
actes  d'acceptation,  d'accession  ou  d'adhesion  ;  actes  de  ratification,  de 
garantie,  de  cession  et  de  renonciation,  de  prise  de  possession,  d'abdication  ; 
reversales  (ou  lettres  reversales :  '  la  piece  officielle  par  laquelle  une  cour 
reconnait  qu'une  concession  speciale  qui  lui  est  faite  par  une  autre  cour  ne 
devra  prejudicier  en  rien  aux  droits  et  prerogatives  anterieures  de  chacune 
d'elles.  .  .  .  Lorsque  la  reversale  est  signee  par  le  chef  de  I'^tat  elle  revolt 
la  forme  de  letire  patents :  lorsqu'elle  est  souscrite  par  des  plenipotentiaires, 
elle  est  redigee  sous  forme  de  declaration ',  p.  1 93).  See  historical  examples 
cited,  e.g.  Declaration  du  rot  de  Prusse  sur  sa  rupture  avec  V Angleterre 
(1807),  pp.  57-8. 

*  ii,  pp.  196-265.  See  especially  on  'instructions',  with  historical 
examples  (e.g.  of  Choiseul  to  Breteuil,  1766),  pp.  245-65. 

'  ii,  pp.  266-524 ;  especially,  Memoires  et  Memorandum  ;  Notes  diplo- 
matiques  ;  Lettres  diplomatiques  ;  Depeches  ou  Rapports  ;  with  historical 
examples. 

'  ii,  pp.  525-43,  especially  Protocoles, pp.  525-35,  with  historical  examples. 

*  2  vols.,  1 91 7,  xii  +  407,  and  ix  +  405:  one  of  a  projected  series  of 
'  Contributions  to  International  Law  and  Diplomacy  ',  ed.  by  L.  Oppen- 
heim.  •  Editorial  Introduction,  1.  v. 


158     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

practical  and  the  legal  side  of  diplomacy  have  been  kept  in 
view;  an  outline  of  the  important  Congresses  and  Conferences 
is  included,  and  the  different  kinds  of  international  compacts 
have  been  treated  in  some  detail.  The  manner  of  conducting 
Congresses  and  Conferences,  and  of  framing  treaties  and  like 
instruments,  is  in  the  majority  of  cases,  analysed.  With  regard 
to  Good  Offices  and  Mediation  the  historical  supports  and 
illustrations  given  by  the  author  are  considerable  and  ample. 
The  language  of  the  originals  is  retained,  in  the  larger  part  of 
the  work,  in  quotations  from  treaties  and  other  State  Papers. 
An  Appendix  contains  a  list  of  treatises  on  International  Law 
likely  to  be  of  use  to  diplomatists,  and  a  supplementary  list 
of  works,  historical,  biographical,  and  other,  that  '  may  be 
useful  to  junior  members  of  the  diplomatic  service ',  and  not 
to  these  only. 

There  are  parts  of  this  work  that  more  especially  deserve  atten- 
tion within  our  own  purpose  :  the  first  few  pages  ^  on  definitions 
and  uses  of  the  words '  diplomacy '  and  '  diplomat ', '  diplomate ', 
'  diplomatist ' ;  a  chapter  ^  on  '  The  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs ' ;  a  chapter,^  historical  in  character,  entitled  '  Precedence 
among  States  and  Similar  Matters '  ;  a  chapter  *  on  '  The 
Language  of  Diplomatic  Intercourse,  and  Forms  of  Documents ', 
especially  the  sections  on  the  former  use  of  Latin,  French,  and 
Spanish,  on  the  language  used  in  treaties,  and  on  the  Notey  the 
note  verbaUy  and  the  memorandum ;  a  chapter  ^  on  *  Counsels 
to  Diplomatists  ',  including  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  ;  • 

^  i,  pp.  1-4.  *  I,  ch.  iii,  pp.  8-12. 

^  I,  ch.  iv,  pp.  13-25.  *  I,  ch.  vii,  pp.  58-99. 

'  I,  ch.  ix,  pp.  119-45. 

•  *  We  venture  to  suggest  that  a  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  ought 
always  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  policj'  to  be  pursued  in  regard  to  each 
separate  foreign  state,  and  to  seize  every  convenient  opportunity  of  dis- 
cussing it  with  the  heads  of  the  respective  diplomatic  missions.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  earlier  practice  of  providing  an  envoy  proceeding  to 


Supplementary  Reading  159 

a  chapter^  on  'Latin  and  French  Phrases' — ultimatum,  uti 
fosiidetis  and  status  quo  ;  ^  ad  referendum  ^  and  sub  spe  rati ; 
casus  belli  and  casus  foederis ;  demarche ;  prendre  acte ; 
a  short  chapter  *  '  Of  Diplomatic  Agents  in  General ' ;  a 
chapter  ^  entitled  '  Classification  of  Diplomatic  Agents '  ;  ^ 
one  '  on  '  The  Diplomatic  Body ' ;  two  chapters,®  historical  in 
character,  on  '  Congresses '  and  '  Conferences ' ;  parts  of  five 
chapters  ^  on  '  Treaties  and  other  International  Compacts ' — 
e.  g.  Treaty,  Convention,  Additional  Articles,  Acte  Finale, 
Declaration,    Protocol,    Proces-verbal,    Exchange    of    Notes, 

his  post  for  the  first  time  with  detailed  instructions  has  in  some  countries 
fallen  into  disuse.' — i,  p.  142.  '  The  moral  qualities — prudence,  foresight, 
intelligence,  penetration,  wisdom — of  statesmen  and  nations  have  not 
kept  pace  with  the  development  of  the  means  of  action  at  their  disposal : 
armies,  ships,  guns,  explosives,  land  transport,  but,  more  than  all,  that  of 
rapidity  of  communication  by  telegraph  and  telephone.  These  latter 
leave  no  time  for  reflection  or  consultation,  and  demand  an  immediate  and 
often  a  hasty  decision  on  matters  of  vital  importance.' — i,  p.  145. 

^  i,  ch.  X,  pp.  146-67. 

-  These  two  phrases  are  often  used  to  denote  the  same  thing,  but,  *  while 
uti  possidetis  relates  to  the  possession  of  territory,  the  status  quo  may  be 
the  previously  existing  situation  in  regard  to  other  matters',  i,  p.  156. 
'  In  stipulating  for  uti  possidetis  or  for  statu  quo,  it  is  ...  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  fix  the  date  to  which  either  expression  is  to  relate  ',  p.  157. 

3  '  In  these  days,  when  telegraphic  communication  is  possible  between 
capitals  even  the  most  distant  from  each  other,  a  prudent  diplomatist  will 
take  care  not  to  commit  his  Government  by  a  provisional  acceptance  of 
what  is  not  warranted  by  his  previous  instructions.  The  utmost  he  will 
do  will  be  to  receive  the  proposal  ad  referendum.' — i,  pp.  158-9. 

*  I,  ch.  xi,  pp.  168-74. 

5  I,  ch.  xvi,  pp.  229-39. 

^  '  Le  mot  ambaxador  etait  apparu   au  milieu   du  xiii"  siecle  ',  Nys, 
Origines  du  droit  international,  p.  317,  quoted  i.  230. 
">  I,  ch.  xxiii,  pp.  339-64. 
8  II,  ch.  XXV,  pp.  1-93,  and  ch.  xxvi,  pp.  94-171. 

*  II,  ch.  xxvii-xxxi,  pp.  172-288. 


i6o    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

Modus  vivendi,  Ratification,  Adhesion,  and  Accession ;  a 
chapter  ^  on  '  Mediation  '.* 

6.  (a)  Frederick  the  Great,  UHistoire  de  mon  Temps. 

The  interest  of  the  State,  said  Frederick,  ought  to  serve 
as  the  rule  to  sovereigns  in  their  regard  for  treaties  and  alliances. 
Alliances  may  be  broken  :  (i)  when  the  ally  fails  to  fulfil  his 
engagements  ;  (2)  when  the  ally  is  thinking  of  deceiving  you, 
and  there  remains  to  you  no  resource  except  to  anticipate  him  ; 
(3)  when  une  force  majeure  overwhelms  you,  and  constrains 
you  to  break  your  treaties  ;  and  (4)  when  there  is  a  lack  of 
adequate  means  to  continue  war. 

*  Par  je  ne  sais  quelle  fatalite  ces  malheureuses  richesses 
influent  sur  tout.  Les  Princes  sont  des  esclaves  de  leurs 
moyens ;  I'interet  de  I'fitat  leur  sert  de  loi,  &  cette  loi  est 
inviolable.  Si  le  Prince  est  dans  I'obligation  de  sacrifier  sa 
personne  meme  au  salut  de  ses  sujets,  a  plus  forte  raison  doit-il 
leur  sacrifier  des  liaisons  dont  la  continuation  leur  devien- 
droit  prejudiciable.  Les  exemples  de  pareils  traites  rompus 
se  rencontrent  communement.  Notre  intention  n'est  pas  de 
les  justifier  tous.  J'ose  pourtant  avancer  qu'il  en  est  de  tels, 
que  la  necessite,  ou  la  sagesse,  la  prudence,  ou  le  bien  des 
peuples  obligeoit  de  transgresser,  ne  restant  aux  Souverains 
que  ce  moyen-la  d'eviter  leur  ruine.' 

The  word  of  a  private  person  (««  particulier)^  Frederick  says, 
may  involve  only  one  man  in  misfortune,  whereas  that  of 
Sovereigns  may  bring  calamities  to  whole  nations.  '  The 
question,  therefore,  is  reduced  to  this,  whether  it  is  better 

*  II,  ch.  xxxiii,  pp.  307-57. 

*  *  Good  offices  *  (see  11,  pp.  289-306)  are  '  often  confused  with  "  media- 
tion ",  and  sometimes  assume  that  form,  while  a  mediation  may  now  and 
then  involve  an  arbitration.  In  fact,  arbitration  may  be  regarded 
essentially  as  an  agreement  to  confer  on  a  mediator,  in  place  of  a  commis- 
sion to  negotiate  terms  of  settlement,  the  more  extended  power  of  pronoun- 
cing a  judgment  on  the  matters  at  issue  between  the  parties,*  ii.  358. 


Supplementary  Reading  i6i 

that  the  people  should  perish,  or  that  the  Prince  should  break 
the  treaty  he  has  made.  And  what  man  would  be  so  stupid 
as  to  hesitate  in  deciding  the  question  ?'...'  If  war  could 
fix  securely  the  frontiers  of  States,  and  maintain  that  balance 
of  power  which  is  so  necessary  for  the  Sovereigns  of  Europe, 
we  might  regard  those  who  have  fallen  in  war  as  sacrifices  to 
the  public  tranquillity  and  safety.'  Reason  prescribes  a  rule 
from  which  no  statesman  should  depart  :  he  should  seize 
occasion,  and  when  it  is  favourable  embark  on  his  enterprise. 
'  La  Politique  demande  de  la  patience,  et  le  chef-d'oeuvre 
d'un  homme  habile  est  de  faire  chaque  chose  en  son  temps 
et  a  propos.'  ^ 

(b)  Clausewitz  (i 780-1 834),  On  War?' 

Allies  in  relation  to  '  the  extent  of  the  means  of  defence ' ; 

'  We  may  further  reckon  allies  as  the  last  support  of  the 
defensive.  Naturally  we  do  not  mean  ordinary  allies,  which 
the  assailant  may  likewise  have  ;  we  speak  of  those  essentially 
interested  in  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the  country.  If 
for  instance  we  look  at  the  various  states  composing  Europe 
at  the  present  time,  we  find  (without  speaking  of  a  systematic- 
ally regulated  balance  of  power  and  interests,  as  that  does  not 
exist,  and  is  often  with  justice  disputed,  still,  unquestionably) 
that  the  great  and  small  states  and  interests  of  nations  are 
interwoven  with  each  other  in  a  most  diversified  and  change- 
able manner  ;  each  of  these  points  of  intersection  forms  a 
binding  knot,  for  in  it  the  direction  of  the  one  gives  equilibrium 
to  the  direction  of  the  other  ;  by  all  these  knots,  therefore, 
evidently  a  more  or  less  compact  connection  of  the  whole  will 

^  VHistoire  de  mon  Temps  :  Avant-Propos.  Applications  of  Frederick's 
precepts  abound  in  his  writings  :  see,  e.g.,  the  beginning  of  ch.  iv  of  the 
History. 

2  Translated  from  the  third  German  edition,  by  Colonel  J.  J.  Graham, 
3  vols,  in  one,  1873.  For  the  connexion  of  Clausewitz  with  Scharnhorst 
and  Stein,  see  Seeley's  Stein. 

2224  M 


1 62     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

be  formed,  and  this  general  connection  must  be  partially 
overturned  by  every  change.  In  this  manner  the  whole 
relations  of  all  states  to  each  other  serve  rather  to  preserve 
the  stability  of  the  whole  than  to  produce  changes ;  that  is 
to  say,  this  tendency  to  stability  exists  in  general.  This  we 
conceive  to  be  the  true  notion  of  a  balance  of  power,  and  in 
this  sense  it  will  always  of  itself  come  into  existence,  whenever 
there  are  extensive  connections  between  civilised  states.  How 
far  this  tendency  of  the  general  interests  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  existing  state  of  things  is  efficient  is  another  question  ; 
at  all  events  we  can  conceive  some  changes  in  the  relations 
of  single  states  to  each  other,  which  promote  this  efficiency 
of  the  whole,  and  others  which  obstruct  it.  .  .  .  The 
defensive,  in  general,  may  count  more  on  foreign  aid  than 
the  offensive  ;  he  may  reckon  the  more  certainly  on  it  in 
proportion  as  his  existence  is  of  importance  to  others,  that  is 
to  say,  the  sounder  and  more  vigorous  his  political  and  military 
condition.'  ^ 

Influence  of  the  political  object  on  the  military  : 

'  Even  in  wars  carried  on  without  allies,  the  political  cause 
of  a  war  has  a  great  influence  upon  the  method  in  which  it  is 
conducted.  .  .  .  The  reciprocal  action,  the  rivalry,  the  violence 
and  impetuosity  of  war  lose  themselves  in  the  stagnation  of 
weak  motives,  and  .  .  .  both  parties  move  with  a  certain  kind 
of  security  in  very  circumscribed  spheres.  If  this  influence 
of  the  political  object  is  once  permitted,  as  it  then  must  be, 
there  is  no  longer  any  limit,  and  we  must  be  prepared  to  come 
down  to  such  warfare  as  consists  in  a  mere  threatening  of  the 
enemy  and  in  negotiating.  That  the  theory  of  war,  if  it  is  to 
be  and  continue  a  philosophical  study,  finds  itself  here  in 

*  Clausewitz,  On  War,  ii,  pp.  81-3.  Cf. :  'When  a  great  state  which 
has  smaller  allies  is  conquered,  these  usually  secede  very  soon  from  their 
alliance,  so  that  the  victor,  in  this  respect,  with  every  blow  becomes  stronger ; 
but  if  the  conquered  state  is  small,  protectors  must  sooner  present  themselves 
when  his  very  existence  is  threatened,  and  others,  who  have  helped  to 
place  him  in  his  present  embarrassment,  will  turn  round  to  prevent  his 
complete  downfall.'    Ibid.,  iii,  p.  37. 


Supplementary  Reading  163 

a  difficulty  is  clear.  All  that  is  essentially  inherent  in  the 
conception  of  war  seems  to  fly  from  it,  and  it  is  in  danger  of 
being  left  without  any  point  of  support.  .  ,  .  All  military  art 
then  turns  itself  into  mere  prudence.'  ^ 

War  as  an  instrument  of  policy  : 

'  War  is  nothing  but  a  continuation  of  political  intercourse, 
with  a  mixture  of  other  means.  We  say,  mixed  with  other 
means,  in  order  thereby  to  maintain  at  the  same  time  that  this 
political  intercourse  does  not  cease  by  the  war  itself,  is  not 
changed  into  something  quite  different,  but  that,  in  its 
essence,  it  continues  to  exist,  whatever  may  be  the  form  of  the 
means  which  it  uses,  and  that  the  chief  lines  on  which  the 
events  of  the  war  progress,  and  to  which  they  are  attached, 
are  only  the  general  features  of  policy  which  run  all  through 
the  war  until  peace  is  made,  ...  Is  not  war  merely  another 
kind  of  writing  and  language  for  political  thoughts  ?  It  has 
certainly  a  grammar  of  its  own,  but  its  logic  is  not  peculiar  to 
itself.  .  .  .  That  the  political  point  of  view  should  end  com- 
pletely when  war  begins,  is  only  conceivable  in  contests  which 
are  wars  of  life  and  death,  from  pure  hatred.  .  .  .  The  sub- 
ordination of  the  political  point  of  view  to  the  military  would 
be  contrary  to  common  sense,  for  policy  has  declared  the 
war  ;  it  is  the  intelligent  faculty,  war  only  the  instrument, 
not  the  reverse.  .  .  .  The  art  of  war  in  its  highest  point  of 
view  is  policy,  but,  no  doubt,  a  policy  which  fights  battles, 
instead  of  writing  notes.  ...  It  is  only  when  policy  promises 
itself  a  wrong  effect  from  certain  military  means  and  measures, 
an  effect  opposed  to  their  nature,  that  it  can  exercise  a  preju- 
dicial effect  on  war  by  the  course  it  prescribes.  .  .  .  This  has 
happened  times  without  end,  and  it  shows  that  a  certain 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  war  is  essential  to  the  management 
of  political  commerce.  ...  If  war  is  to  harmonise  entirely 
with  the  political  views  and  policy,  to  accommodate  itself 
to  the  means  available  for  war,  there  is  only^one  alternative 
to  be  recommended  when  the  statesman  and  soldier  are  not 
combined  in  one  person,  which  is  to  make  the  chief  commander 
a  member  of  the  cabinet,  that  he  may  take  part  in  its  councils 

^  Ibid.,  iii,  pp.  64-5. 
M  2 


1 64     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

and  decisions  on  important  occasions.  But  then,  again,  this 
is  only  possible  when  the  cabinet,  that  is  the  government  itself, 
is  near  the  theatre  of  war,  so  that  things  can  be  settled  without 
a  serious  waste  of  time.'  ^ 

7.  Sorel,  V Europe  et  la  Revolution  f rang aise.^ 

In  the  first  volume^  there  are  passages  treating  of  La  Raison 
d'fitat  ;  Les  Regies  de  Conduite ;  La  Foi  des  Traites  ; 
Le  Systeme  de  I'fiquiHbre ;  La  Diplomatic ;  Ruine  de 
I'Europe. 

8.  James  Harris,  first  Earl  of  Malmesbury  (i 746-1 820), 
Diaries  and  Correspondence.* 

The  work  is  an  established  and  indispensable  authority  for 
an  understanding  of  the  diplomacy  of  the  times  of  which  it 
treats.  It  contains  much  that  is  of  value  bearing  on  internal 
politics  both  in  Britain  and  in  Continental  States,  and  on  the 
influence  of  the  constitutional  system  and  of  domestic  politics 
upon  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy.^ 

Malmesbury  gave  advice  to  a  young  man  'destined  for  the 
foreign  line'.*  His  grandson  had  doubts  whether  the  maxims 
then  enunciated  were  wholly  applicable  a  generation  later.' 

9.  Bernard®  (Mountague),  Four  Lectures  on  Subjects  connected 
with  Diplomacy.'^ 

*  Clausewitz,  iii,  pp.  65-8.  ^  6  vols.,  1885-1903. 
'  2nd  ed.,  1907,  ch.  i,  pp.  9-91. 

*  Containing  an  account  of  his  missions  at  the  Court  of  Madrid,  to 
Frederick  the  Great,  Catherine  the  Second,  and  at  the  Hague  ;  and  of  his 
special  missions  to  Berlin,  Brunswick,  and  the  French  Republic.  Edited 
by  his  grandson,  the  third  earl.    4  vols.,  1844. 

*  e.g.  i.  (2nd  ed.),  pp.  169  (Russia  in  1778),  171  (Britain  in  1778),  and 
208-9  (the  absence  of  instructions  in  July  1779)  ;   cf.  iii.  517. 

*  iv,  pp.  412-15.    See  Appendix,  pp.  234-6. 
'  iv,  p.  417. 

'  Chichele  Professor  of  International  Law  and  Diplomacy,  Oxford. 

*  1868,  viii  +  205. 


Supplementary  Reading  165 

The  subjects  of  these  four  very  interesting  lectures  are  : 
(i)  The  Congress  of  Westphalia  ;  (2)  Systems  of  Policy ;  1 
(3)  Diplomacy,  Past  and  Present  (with  much  miscellaneous 
information)  ;    (4)  The  Obligation  of  Treaties. 

10.  Holland,  Studies  in  International  Law?" 

The  following  are  among  the  subjects  discussed  :  Gentili ; 
Early  Literature  of  the  Law  of  War  (to  the  second  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century)  ;  the  Progress  towards  a  written  Law  of 
War ;  Pacific  Blockade ;  Treaty  Relations  between  Russia 
and  Turkey,  1774-185 3,  with  Appendices,^  on  which  subject 

^  '  The  word  "  System  ",  in  the  language  of  pohtlcians,  sometimes  stands 
for  a  system  of  States,  and  sometimes  for  a  system  of  policy.  In  the  first 
case  it  signifies  a  group  of  States  having  relations  more  or  less  permanent 
with  one  another.  Thus  the  North  of  Europe  was  said  before  the  time  of 
Richelieu,  and  less  positively  afterwards,  to  form  one  "  system  ",  and  the 
central,  western,  and  southern  States  to  constitute  another  system.  So, 
again,  all  the  European  Powers  are  often  spoken  of  as  composing  one 
great  system.  In  the  second  case  it  means,  either  any  course  of  policy 
whatever — any  tolerably  uniform  mode  of  acting  in  political  affairs — or 
such  a  course  of  policy  as  involves  combinations,  more  or  less  permanent, 
with  foreign  Powers.  A  statesman  who  habitually  avoids  engaging  his 
country  in  foreign  alliances  has  a  consistent  principle  of  action,  but  not 
a  "system"  in  this  latter  sense  of  the  word.  His  principle  is  to  have  no 
system.  It  is  in  this  latter  sense  that  the  word  is  commonly  used  by  older 
publicists,'  pp.  61-2.  It  is  the  sense  in  which  it  is  used  by  the  author. 
Cf.  :  *  Whoever  undertakes  to  write  the  history  of  any  particular  states- 
system  (by  which  we  mean  the  union  of  several  contiguous  states,  resembling 
each  other  in  their  manners,  religion,  and  degree  of  social  improvement, 
and  cemented  together  by  a  reciprocity  of  interests),  ought,  above  all 
things,  to  possess  a  right  conception  of  its  general  character.' — Heeren, 
A  Manual  oj  the  Political  System  of  Europe,  transl.  1834,  i,  pp.  viii-ix  : 
so,  '  the  rise  of  the  European  political  system  '  ;  *  the  Southern  European 
States-system  '  ;   *  the  Northern  European  States-system  '. 

2  1898. 

^  (i)  Treaties  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  1774 -1853,  and  (2)  showing 
the  relation  of  the  Treaty  of  Kainardji  to  the  subsequent  great  treaties. 


1 66    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

reference  should  be  made  to  the  same  author's  The  European 
Concert  in  the  Eastern  Question^  (Treaties  and  other  Public 
Acts,  with  introductions  and  notes). 

II.  {a)  Report  from  the  Select  Committee  on  the  Diplomatic 
Service  (with  Proceedings  of  the  Committee,  Minutes  of 
Evidence,  &c.),2  1861. 

This  very  valuable  Report  contains  the  evidence  of  Claren- 
don, Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  Malmesbury,  Cowley,  Lord  John 
Russell,  Edmund  Hammond  (Permanent  Under-Secretary  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs),  and  others.  It  is  of  high  value  on 
questions  of  training,  procedure,  the  effect  of  telegraphic 
communication  on  the  requirements  and  conditions  of  the 
service,  the  publication  of  dispatches.  There  is  a  helpful 
Index  of  fifty-four  pages. 

{h)  Hammond,  Adventures  of  a  Paper  in  the  Foreign  OJice^ 
1864,  reprinted  in  Report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Diplomatic 
and  Consular  Services,  1871.' 

Hertslet  (Sir  Edward),  Recollections  of  the  Old  Foreign  Office.^ 

{c)  Parliamentary  Paper,  Miscellaneous,  No.  5  (191 2)  : 
Treatment  of  International  Questions  by  Parliaments  in 
European  Countries,  the  United  States,  and  Japan. ^ 

{d)  Fifth  Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  Civil 
Service  :   Diplomatic  Corps  and  the  Foreign  Office.* 

»  1885.  "pp.  XX +555. 

'  Com.  Papers,  1871,  vi.  197. 

*  1901,  pp.  x+  275:  ch.  iv-v,  'Secretaries  of  State';  vi,  'Under 
Secretaries  '  ;  vii,  '  Foreign  Office  Officials  '  (including  Edmund  Hammond 
and  Lewis  Hertslet.  '  There  have  been  four  generations  of  the  Hertslet 
family  in  the  Foreign  Office  since  1795',  p.  144,  f-n.) ;  viii,  'King's 
(Queen's)  Messengers  '  ;  ch.  xi,  '  Diplomatists  and  Consuls  '  ;  Appendix, 
*  Secretaries  of  State  '  (historical  and  chronological). 

»  Cd.  6102. 

•  Cd.  7748(1914). 


Supplementary  Reading  167 

The  Statesman's  Tear-Book,  recent  and  current,  and  The 
Foreign  Office  List,^  begun  in  1852,  should  be  consulted. 

^  For  a  chronological  list  of  Ambassadors,  Envoys,  Ministers,  Charges 
d'Affaires,  &c.,  from  Great  Britain  to  Foreign  States,  from  1851  to  191 8, 
sec  the  edition  for  1918 ;  for  lists  from  1740  to  181 3,  see  editions  previous 
to  1862  ;  from  1814  to  1836,  editions  previous  to  1873  5  from  1837  to  1850, 
editions  previous  to  1902.  For  Secretaries  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs 
from  1782  to  1 91 8,  see  edition  for  191 8;  for  Secretaries  of  State  for  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Departments,  from  1761  to  1782,  see  edition  for 
1901.  For  Under-Secretaries  of  State  from  1854  to  1918,  see  edition  for 
1918  ;  for  before  1854,  sec  edition  for  1901. 


8 

Literature  of  Rece^it  British  Diplomacy 

I .  {a)  Seeley,  7he  Growth  of  British  Policy.'^ 
The  work  is  of  great  value  for  its  way  of  appreciating  ques- 
tions of  international  'policy'  in  general,  for  an  interpretation 
of  the  international  policy  of  Britain  from  the  accession  of 
Elizabeth  to  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  for 
the  skill  with  which  the  author  shows  the  historical  background 
of  modern  Britain  in  its  relation  to  foreign  States.  The  work 
was  needed. 

'  In  France,  where  for  a  long  time  constitutional  develop- 
ment, if  it  existed,  escaped  notice,  still  more  in  Germany, 
where  it  was  petty  and  uninteresting,  history  leaned  towards 
foreign  affairs.  But  in  England,  the  home  of  constitutionaHsm, 
history  leaned  just  as  decidedly  in  the  opposite  direction. 
English  eyes  are  always  bent  upon  Parliament,  English  history 
always  tends  to  shrink  into  mere  parliamentary  history,  and 
as  Parliament  itself  never  shines  less  than  in  the  discussion  of 
foreign  affairs,  so  there  is  scarcely  a  great  English  historian 
who  does  not  sink  somewhat  below  himself  in  the  treatment  of 
English  foreign  relations.'  ^ 

*  2  vols.,  1895. 

*  Op.  cit.  i,  pp.  1-2.  Sir  John  Seeley  commends  the  work  of  Gardiner 
and  of  Kinglake  in  remedying  this  defect  of  English  historians  *  since 
Ranke  tried  in  his  English  History  to  supply  those  links  between  English 
and  continental  affairs  '  (especially,  one  may  add,  for  the  reign  of  Charles  II) 
'  which  English  historians  had  not  troubled  themselves  to  give  '  (p.  2).  He 
pays  a  striking  tribute  to  Kinglake  in  this  connexion  :  '  In  his  book 
England  always  appears  as  a  Power.  He  sees  her  always  in  the  company 
of  other  great  states,  walking  by  the  side  of  France  or  Austria,  supporting 
Turkey,  withstanding  Russia.     Her  Parliament  is  in  the  background ;  in 


Literature  of  Recent  British  Diplomacy      169 

The  work  may  seem,  at  points,  to  treat  in  too  large  outline 
international  changes,  such  as,  for  example,  were  initiated  by 
Richelieu,^  and  to  ascribe  too  boldly  to  the  English  Revolution 
important  changes  effected  ;  ^  and  in  particular  it  may  seem 
to  pursue  too  assiduously,  though  with  more  reserve  than  in 
The  Expansion  of  England,  the  quest  for  tendency,  for  some 
large  conclusion,  the  formula.  But  it  is  a  work  unsurpassed 
in  Britain  for  its  suggestiveness  in  the  realm  of  international 
policy  ;  for  its  gift  of  relating  causes  to  effects,  motives  and 
principles  to  policy  and  action  ;  of  relating  the  domes-tic  to 
the  foreign,  the  insular  to  the  international ;  for  its  grasp  of 
inter-connexions  and  inter-dependences  in  the  causes  and 
consequences  of  great  events.  These  qualities  are  exhibited  in 
the  author's  treatment  of  the  dangers  to  Elizabethan  England 
from  the  Powers  of  the  Counter-Reformation,^  and  the  winning 
by  England  of  '  a  self-confidence  which  it  has  never  lost  since  '.* 
'  If  the  Muse  is  asked  to  say  what  first  caused  the  discord 

the  front  of  the  stage  he  puts  the  Ministers  who  act  in  the  name,  or  the 
generals  who  wield  the  force,  of  England,  the  Great  Power.' 

\  |>  PP-  357-65- 

-  ii,  pp.  275-308,  and  the  chapter  on  'The  Work  of  William  III'.  In 
a  summary  statement,  ii,  p.  344,  the  author  says  of  '  The  Second  Revolution  ' 
that  it  '  was  in  the  first  place  a  rising  against  arbitrary  power,  but  a  rising 
undertaken  in  circumstances  so  peculiar  that  it  necessarily  involved  (i)  an 
immediate  war  with  France,  (2)  a  supplementary  revolution  of  the  same 
kind  which  we  call  the  Hanoverian  Succession,  (3)  another  great  war 
with  France  and  Spain,  (4)  a  union  with  Scotland  and  at  least  the  intro- 
duction of  a  new  system  in  Ireland,  (5)  and  as  the  result  of  all  these  things 
a  great  development  of  trade  and  the  foundation  of  a  Trade  Empire,  which 
brings  us  into  a  position  of  permanent  rivalry  to  France  and  Spain  hence- 
forth united  in  a  family  policy.'  See  also  Ii,  p.  308.  '  The  second  Revo- 
lution '  is  *  not  a  single  occurrence  belonging  to  the  year  1688,  but  a  long 
development  beginning  many  years  before  and  ending  considerably  later 
than  1688.' — ii,  pp.  327-8. 

^  i,  part  I,  ch.  iii-viii.  *  I,  p.  215. 


170     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

which  brought  the  Spanish  Armada  to  our  shores,  she  must 
answer  that  it  was  the  conviction  which  the  Spaniards  formed 
that  they  could  not  deal  with  the  rebellion  in  the  Low  Countries 
without  dealing  at  the  same  time  with  the  English  question.'  ^ 
The  same  qualities  of  the  author  are  shown  not  less  clearly 
and  fruitfully  in  his  analysis  of  the  place  of  the  English  Revolu- 
tion in  relation  to  international  affairs  and  the  liberties  of 
Europe,-  in  his  estimate  of  the  work  of  William  III,  *the  pius 
Aeneas,  who  bears  the  weight  of  destiny,'  *  and  in  his  comparison 
and  Unking  of  the  policy  of  Elizabeth,  of  Cromwell,  and  of 
William.*  'What  began  about  1567  with  the  commencement 
of  the  Dutch  rebellion  is  in  a  sense  completed  at  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht.  For  us  the  result  is  that  our  state  begins  to  assume 
the  character  of  a  great  Trade  Empire.  .  .  .  The  second  Revolu- 
tion, which  seemed  to  take  its  rise  in  religion,  ends  in  commerce ; 
it  results,  if  we  regard  it  comprehensively,  in  establishing 
a  greater  commercial  state  than  the  world  had  yet  seen.'  ^ 

{b)  Egerton,  British  Foreign  Policy  in  Europe  to  the  End  of 
the  19th  century.^ 

There  is  no  work  that  gives  a  continuous  account  of  British 
diplomacy  and  foreign  policy  on  a  scale  commensurate  with 
the  importance  of  the  subject  ;  and  it  is  a  task  that  cannot 
be  discharged  adequately  by  the  labour,  knowledge,  and  good 
judgement  of  one  man  only.  In  the  absence  of  such  a  work, 
this  book  will  be  found  of  use  as  a  general  introduction  to  the 
study  of  the  subject.'     It  is  more  especially  concerned  with 

^  The  Growth  of  British  Policy,  i,  p.  153.  *  ii,  pp.  274-348. 

»   ii,  p.  325.  *  e.g.  ii,  pp.  322-5. 

'  ii,  pp.  338,  339.  Cf.  pp.  343,  347,  on  the  Second  Hundred  Years' 
War,  and  the  concluding  chapter  on  '  The  Commercial  State  '. 

•  1 91 7,  pp.  viii  +  440. 

'  ch.  i,  Introductory,  ii.  Religion,  Trade  and  Foreign  Greed  ;  their 
Influence  upon  English  Foreign  Policy,  1570-1688.  iii,  The  Resistance  to 
French   World-Supremacy;     Anglo-French    Rapprochements,    1689-1789. 


Literature  of  Recent  British  Diplomacy     171 

British  foreign  policy  during  the  nineteenth  century,  and  in 
the  exposition  of  policy  '  from  the  eve  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion '  the  author  has  '  called  in  aid  the  actual  w^ords,  w^ritten 
or  spoken,  of  the  leading  statesmen  and  diplomatists  who  were 
responsible  '  for  its  conduct.^ 

2.  The  Cambridge  Modern  History^  vols,  xi  and  xii,  and  The 
Political  History  of  England,  vol.  xii ;  Lavisse  and  Rambaud, 
Histoire  generale,  vol.  xii. 

*  In  earlier  volumes  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  the 
shifting  from  time  to  time  of  the  centre  of  gravity  in  Europe. 
From  about  1660  to  1870  that  centre  of  gravity  was  undoubt- 
edly in  Paris.  Since  1871  France,  though  still  in  the  forefront 
of  European  culture,  has  lost  something  of  her  pride  of  place. 
The  centre  of  European  politics  proper  has  been  at  Berlin  ; 
the  centre  of  world-politics,  which  are  also  European  politics 
in  the  larger  sense,  has  been  in  London.  And  it  is  not  by 
accident  that  the  Hague,  midway  between  London  and 
Berlin  and  nearly  equidistant  from  Paris,  has  been  chosen  as 
the  meeting-ground  of  European  Councils.  Whether  the 
coming  generation  sees  the  centre  of  world-politics  transferred 
from  London  to  Washington  depends  on  various  contin- 
gencies ;  among  others  on  the  policy  adopted  by  Great 
Britain  towards  her  self-governing  Colonies,  and  on  the  degree 
of  interest  which  the  United  States  may  come  to  take  in 
matters  outside  their  own  boundaries.  Up  to  the  present^, 
the  United  States  have  taken  no  share  in  European  politics, 
little  in  world-politics ;  but  the  Spanish  War  and  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  Philippines  have  introduced  a  change.'  ^ 

iv,  British  Foreign  Policy  during  the  French  Revolution  and  the  Empire, 
1 790-1 8 14.  V,  The  Concert  of  Europe,  1814-30.  vi,  The  Growth  of 
Nationalism.  The  Peculiar  Character  of  Anglo-French  Relations,  1830-53. 
vii,  The  Growth  of  Nationalism  (contd.),  1854-70.  viii.  The  New  Europe 
and  its  Problems,  1 871 -1900.  ix,  British  Sea-Power  in  its  Relations  to 
other  Nations. 

^  p.  vi.  2  1910. 

^  The  Cambridge  Modern  History,  vol.  xii,  p.  12. 


172     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

3.  Debidour,  Histoire  diplomatique  de  V Europe  contemporaine, 
1814-78.1 

4.  (a)  Treaties,  as  above,^  and  Hertslet,  The  Map  of  Europe 
by  Treaty.^ 

(b)  Phillimore  (W.  G.  F.),  Three  Centuries  of  Treaties  of  Peace 
and  their  Teaching.^ 

The  author  has  attempted  to  show  how,  and  how  far,  the 
condition  of  Europe  at  the  outset  of  the  War  of  1914  was  due 
to  previous  diplomatic  settlements,  and  '  how  war  could  be 
prevented  and  how  it  could  be  humanized  and  regulated  if 
it  did  occur  '.  He  makes  the  broad  assertion,  that  '  treaties 
of  the  eighteenth  century  give  us  lessons  in  regulation  ;  treaties 
of  the  nineteenth,  in  humanization  ;  while  the  twentieth 
century  began  with  attempts  at  prevention,  imperfect  un- 
happily, and  too  weak  to  stand  severe  strain,  but  not  without 
value  as  guides  to  a  more  perfect  scheme  in  the  future  '.* 

5.  The  Crown,  Ministers,  Parliament,  and  the  Conduct  of 
Foreign  Policy. 

The  treatment  of  this  subject  in  books  is  inadequate. 
Anson,  Law  and  Custom  of  the  Constitution :    The  Crown  ;  * 
Todd,  Parliamentary  Government  in  England ; '    Bagehot,  The 

^  2  vols.,  1891.  *  pp.  144-5.  *  See  above,  pp.  146-8. 

*  1917,  pp.  xvi  +  227.  Ch.  i,  Conditions  of  a  Just,  Lasting,  and  Effective 
Treaty  of  Peace,  ii,  Lessons  supplied  by  Treaties  of  Peace  from  West- 
phalia, 1648,  to  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  181 5.  iii,  The  Congress  of  Vienna 
and  its  Legacies,  iv,  The  Making  of  Italy  and  the  Remaking  of  Germany. 
V,  The  Treaty  History  of  Eastern  Europe,  vi,  Extra-European  Treaties 
of  Peace,  vii,  Treaties  concerning  the  Laws  of  War.  viii,  How  Treaties 
are  brought  to  an  End.  ix,  Conclusions.  The  author  gives  a  useful  list  of 
authorities,  pp.  xiii-xvi,  and  a  chronological  list  of  treaties  referred  to  in 
the  text,  pp.  179-84. 

'  p.  X.  •  1908.     Part  I,  pp.  42-4,  128-30;  Part  11,  pp.  102-8. 

'  2  vols.,  1866.  In  ed.  of  1892  (edit,  by  Spencer  Walpole),  i.  125-41 
(Part  II,  ch.  ii). 


Literature  of  Recent  British  Diplomacy     173 

English  Constitution  ;  ^   Spencer  Walpole,  Foreign  Relations  ;  ^ 
The  Letters  of  Queen  Victoria,   1837-61  ;^    Hansard,  Parlia- 

^  2nd  ed.,  1 872.  See  the  introductory  pages  to  the  2nd  ed.  (and  later  eds.), 
pp.  xli-lii :  the  work  itself  hardly  touches  the  subject.  See  also  a  dis- 
cussion, from  opposing  standpoints,  of  constitutional  questions  raised  by 
the  publication  of  the  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort  (the  third  volume),  and 
especially  with  reference  to  public  opinion  as  a  guide  in  foreign  policy, 
in  The  Crown  and  the  Cabinet,  by  '  Verax  ',  '  The  Crown  and  the  Con- 
stitution '  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  April  1878,  and  the  Reply  of  '  Verax  ' 
to  the  Quarterly  Review,  Edinburgh  Review,  July  1878. 

^  1882,  especially  ch.  iv. 

^  3  vols.,  1907;  in  edition  of  1908,  i,  pp.  106-7  (Palmerston  to  Queen 
Victoria,  February  25,  1838);  ii,  pp.  221-2  (Lord  John  Russell  to  Prince 
Albert,  on  procedure  as  to  the  drafting  of  dispatches  and  on  Palmerston, 
June  19,  1849),  P-  ^^4  ^^^  PP-  363-4  (the  Queen's  memorandum  to 
Lord  John  Russell,  *  shortly  to  explain  ' — *  with  reference  to  the  communi- 
cation about  Lord  Palmerston  ' — '  what  it  is  she  expects  from  her  Foreign 
Secretary',  August  12,  1850),  pp.  351-3  (Queen  Victoria  to  Lord  John 
Russell,  December  28,  1851  :  'The  Queen  thinks  the  moment  of  the 
change  ' — on  Palmerston's  dismissal — '  in  the  person  of  Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  Affairs  to  afford  a  fit  opportunity  to  have  the  principles  upon 
which  our  Foreign  Affairs  have  been  conducted  since  the  beginning  of 
1848  re-considered  by  Lord  John  Russell  and  his  Cabinet ') ;  iii,  pp.  68-9 
(the  Queen  to  Lord  Aberdeen,  January  13,  1855),  p.  334  (the  Queen  to  the 
Earl  of  Malmesbury  :  '  The  Queen  is  much  afraid  of  these  telegraphic 
short  messages  on  principles  of  policy',  May  20,  1859),  pp.  367-8,  370, 
371,  372-3  (the  Queen,  Russell,  and  Palmerston  on  responsibility  for  the 
conduct  of  foreign  policy  :  '  What  is  the  use  of  the  Queen's  open,  and, 
she  fears,  sometimes  wearisome  correspondence  with  her  Ministers,  what 
the  use  of  long  deliberations  of  the  Cabinet,  if  the  very  policy  can  be  carried 
out  by  indirect  means  which  can  be  set  aside  officially,  and  what  protection 
has  the  Queen  against  this  practice  ? ' — The  Queen  to  Russell, September  5, 
1859.  '  Lord  John  Russell  feels,  on  his  own  part,  that  he  must  offer  to 
your  Majesty  such  advice  as  he  thinks  best  adapted  to  secure  the  interests 
and  dignity  of  your  Majesty  and  the  country.  He  will  be  held  by  Parlia- 
ment responsible  for  that  advice.  It  will  always  be  in  your  Majesty's 
power  to  reject  it  altogether.' — Lord  John  Russell  to  Queen  Victoria, 
October  7,  1859).  " 


174     ^^^  Literature  of  International  Relations 

mentary  Debates^  e.  g.  on  the  Anglo-German  Agreement  and 
the  Cession  of  Heligoland,^  and  on  the  motion  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  March  19,  1918,  that,  '  in  the  opinion  of  this 
House,  a  Standing  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  should  be 
appointed,  representative  of  all  parties  and  groups  in  the  House, 
in  order  that  a  regular  channel  of  communication  may  be 
established  between  the  Foreign  Secretary  and  the  House  of 
Commons  which  will  afford  him  frequent  opportunities  of 
giving  information  on  questions  of  Foreign  policy  and  which, 
by  allowing  Members  to  acquaint  themselves  more  fully  with 
current  international  problems,  will  enable  this  House  to 
exercise  closer  supervision  over  the  general  conduct  of  Foreign 
affairs ;  '  ^  Keith,  Responsible  Government  in  the  British 
Dominions  ;  ^  The  Oxford  Survey  of  the  British  Empire ;  "* 
Extracts  from  Minutes  of  Proceedings  laid  before  the  Imperial 
War  Conference,  1917;°  7he  War  Cabinet:  Report  for  the 
Year  1917.* 

The  subject  is  almost  entirely  ignored  by  A.  Lawrence 
Lowell,  The  Government  of  England,''  and  by  Sydney  Low, 

^  3rd  series,  vol.  cccxlvi-cccxlvii.    See  below.  Appendix,  pp.  260-3. 

*  Parliamentary  Debates,  House  of  Commons,  March  19,  1918,  vol.  104, 
especially  the  speech  of  the  Foreign  Secretary  (Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour),  864-76. 
See  below.  Appendix,  pp.  265-9. 

'  3  vols.,  19 12.     See  vol.  iii,  pp.  1102,  1126-30. 

*  6  vols.,  1 914,  vol.  i,  General  Survey,  especially  pp.  32,  54,  59,  84,  89, 
114,  117.  'The  diplomatic  and  consular  services  form  the  Intelligence 
Department  of  the  Foreign  Office,  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  State.  They 
demand  an  Odyssean  capacity  for  discovering  the  riddle  of  a  foreign 
Government's  intentions  and  for  reading  rightly  the  face  of  events.  The 
diplomatic  eye  must,  where  necessary,  see  through  the  most  authoritative 
of  denials  ' — ch.  ii,  pp.  74-5,  Barrington-Ward  on  '  The  Foreign  Office  and 
its  Agents  '. 

*  Cd.  8566,  p.  61.    See  below,  Appendix,  p.  282. 

*  Cd.  9005,  pp.  vi-vii.    See  below,  Appendix,  pp.  282-4. 
'  2  vols.,  1908.    See  vol.  1,  pp.  45-6  and  86-7. 


Literature  of  Recent  British  Diplomacy     175 

The  Governance  of  England,^  as  it  had  also  been  by  a  mid- 
Victorian  work  of  considerable  repute,  The  Government  of 
England,^  by  W.  E.  Hearn. 

Lowell's  Governments  and  Parties  in  Continental  Europe  ^  is 
useful  for  a  comparative  study,  and  the  following  are  authorita- 
tive works  on  the  constitutions  and  the  constitutional  law  of 
the  European  States  :  the  Marquardsen  series,^  Handbuch  des 
offentlichen  Rechts  der  Gegenwart ;  Dareste,  Les  Constitutions 
modernes  ;  ^  Demombynes,  Les  Constitutions  eurofeennes.^ 
More  directly  bearing  on  the  subject  of  this  section  is  Dupriez, 
Les  Ministres  dans  les  principaux  pays  d^ Europe  et  d^Amerique."^ 
Whereas  Mr,  Lawrence  Lowell  is  interested  primarily  in  parties, 
M.  Dupriez  is  interested  in  the  minister.  Mr.  Lowell  views 
the  position  of  the  minister  chiefly  as  it  affects  the  condition 
of  parties  ;  M.  Dupriez  touches  on  parties  so  far  as  they  affect 
the  authority  of  the  minister.  The  Parliamentary  Paper  issued 
in  191 2  on  the  treatment  of  international  questions  by  Parlia- 
ments on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and  in  the  United  States 
and  Japan,^  briefly  expounds  rights  and  procedure  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  Houses,  in  pursuance  of  the  resolution  passed 
requesting  information  ;  very  briefly,  and  unequally  in  the 
several  reports,  it  shows  also  the  position  of  the  minister. 

1  1904,  2  1867. 

^  2  vols.,  1896.  I,  pp.  xiv  +  377 :  France;  Italy;  Germany,  it, 
pp.  viii  +  455  :  Germany  (contd.) ;  Austria-Hungary  ;  Switzerland. 
With  Appendix:  The  Constitutional  Laws  of  France;  Statuto  of  Italy; 
Constitution  of  the  German  Empire  ;  Fundamental  Laws  of  Austria  ; 
Constitution  of  Switzerland.  *  1883  and  subsequent  years. 

^  Recueil  des  Constitutions  en  vigueur  dans  les  divers  Etats  d'Europe, 
d'Amerique,  et  du  monde  civilise,  2nd  ed.,  1891,  2  vols.,  pp.  xxv  +  686, 
and  687.    There  are  historical  notes  and  bibliographies. 

*  2  vols.,  2nd  ed.  1883,  pp.  xxxix  +  888,  and  91 1.   There  are  introductions. 
'  2  vols.,  2nd  ed.,  1893. 

*  Cd.  6102.    See  above,  p.  166,  and  Appendix,  pp.  270-8. 


176     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

6.  {a)  Lord  Augustus  Loftus,  Diplomatic  Reminiscences, 
1837-77.*  They  set  forth  much  on  the  relations  between 
Austria  and  Prussia,  on  the  Eastern  Question,  questions 
affecting  Italy,  the  Schleswig-Holstein  Question,  and  on  the 
character  and  policy  of  Bismarck.^ 

{b)  Earl  of  Malmesbury,  Memoirs  of  an  ex-Minister :  ^ 
'  a  macedoine,'  says  the  author,  *  of  memoranda,  diary,  and 
correspondence.'  The  work  is  valuable  for  the  years  1852-69, 
and  especially  for  questions  connected  with  Lord  Derby's 
ministries  and  with  Louis  Napoleon. 

(c)  Maxwell,  Life  and  Letters  of  the  Fourth  Earl  of  Clarendon,'^ 
'  the  able  English  Foreign  Secretary  '.^ 

(d)  Newton,  Lord  Lyons :  a  Record  of  British  Diplomacy,^ 
at  Washington  and  Paris. 

{e)  Fitzmaurice,  Life  of  Earl  Granville.'' 
(f)  Redesdale,  Memories.^    There  is  a  chapter  on  Clarendon 
and  Granville. 

7.  Parliamentary  and  State  Papers :  see  Index,  1853,  for 
1801-52,  and  1909,  for  1852-99;  and  Catalogue^  for  1801- 
1901  ;  also  The  Annual  Register  and  The  Times  Index. 

^  4  vols.,  1892,  1894. 

^  '  The  position  of  an  English  Ambassador  at  Berlin  ',  Bismarck  is 
reported  to  have  said,  on  November  30,  1871,  'has  its  own  special  duties 
and  difficulties,  if  only  on  account  of  the  personal  relations  of  the  two 
Royal  families.  It  demands  a  great  deal  of  tact  and  care.' — Busch,  Bis- 
marck, i.  343. 

'  2  vols.,  1884.  *  2  vols.,  1 91 3. 

*  Lord  Malmesbury  in  his  reflections,  in  his  Memoirs,  on  Lord  Derby's 
death,  October  23,  1869,  followed  in  1870  by  that  of  Lord  Clarendon. 

•  2  vols.,  1913.  '  2  vols.,  1895.  *  2  vols.,  1915. 
»  Published  by  P.  S.  King. 


Literature  of  International  Ethics 

1.  'The  true  interest  of  everything  is  to  conform  to  its 
own  constitution  and  nature  ;  and  my  nature  owns  reason 
and  social  obligation.  Socially,  as  Antoninus,  I  have  for  my 
city  and  country  Rome  ;  as  a  man,  the  world.'  ^ 

2.  The  mediaeval  ideal  ^ — of  the  sacerdotium,  as  of  Pope 
Hildebrand  ;  of  the  imperium,  as  of  Frederick  Barbarossa  ;  of 
the  studium,  in  the  thought  of  Aquinas,  on  one  side,  as  well 
as  in  the  thought  of  Dante,^  on  the  other  side — ^is  the  unity 
and    concord    of   the    Christian    Commonwealth,    whether    a 

*  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  To  Himself,  Book  vi,  44. 

^  It  has  been  sympathetically  and  finely  appreciated  by  Robertson, 
Regnuvi  Dei  (1901),  with  St.  Augustine's  De  Civitate  Dei  as  the  central 
theme. 

^  Especially  in  his  De  Monarchia.  Writing  of  the  Commedia,  Dean 
Church  said  :  '  Lucretius  had  drawn  forth  the  poetry  of  nature  and  its 
laws  ;  Virgil  and  Livy  had  unfolded  the  poetry  of  the  Roman  Empire  ; 
St.  Augustine,  the  still  grander  poetry  of  the  history  of  the  City  of  God  ; 
but  none  had  yet  ventured  to  weave  into  one  the  three  wonderful  threads.' — 
Dante  (1878),  with  a  translation  of  De  Monarchia  by  F.  J.  Church.  On 
the  scheme  of  De  Monarchia  see  pp.  88-90  and  93-7.  See  also  Bryce, 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  Robertson,  Regnum  Dei. 

The  following  extracts  will  show  Dante's  general  standpoint.     '  There 

is  a  certain  proper  operation  of  the  whole  body  of  human  kind,  for  which 

this  whole  body  of  men  in  all  its  multitudes  is  ordered  and  constituted, 

but  to  which  no  one  man,  nor  single  family,  nor  single  neighbourhood 

(vicinia),  nor  single  city  [civitas),  nor  particular  kingdom    (regnum   par- 

ticulare)  can  attain  '  (bk.  i.  iii).     '  It  is  plain  that  the  whole  human  race 

is  ordered  to  gain  some  end.  .  .  .  There  must,  therefore,  be  one  to  guide  and 

govern,  and  the  proper  title  for  this  office  is  Monarch  or  Emperor.     And 

so  it  is  plain  that  Monarchy  or  the  Empire  is  necessary  for  the  welfare  of 

the  world  '  (bk.  i.  v.).    '  And  as  the  part  is  to  the  whole,  so  is  the  order  of 

parts  to  the  order  of  the  whole  {sic  ordo  partialis  ad  totalem).    The  part  is 

to  the  whole,  as  to  an  end  and  highest  good  which  is  aimed  at ;  and,  there- 
2224  If 


178    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

World-Church  (and  it  was  the  Church,  before  and  more  than 
the  secular  power,  in  the  Middle  Ages  that  had  the  attributes 
and  majesty  of  '  the  State '),  or  a  World-State,  Christian. 

*  Throughout  the  Middle  Age,'  it  has  been  said,^  '  and 
even  for  a  while  longer,  the  outward  framework  of  all  Political 
Doctrine  consisted  of  the  grandiose  but  narrow  system  of 
thoughts  that  had  been  reared  by  the  Medieval  Spirit.  It 
was  a  system  of  thoughts  which  culminated  in  the  idea  of 
a  Community  which  God  Himself  had  constituted  and  which 
comprised  All  Mankind.  This  system  may  be  expounded,  as 
it  is  by  Dante,  in  all  its  purity  and  all  its  fulness,  or  it  may 
become  the  shadow  of  a  shade  ;  but  rudely  to  burst  its  bars 
asunder  is  an  exploit  which  is  but  now  and  again  attempted 
by  some  bold  innovator.' 

'  Political  Thought  when  it  is  genuinely  medieval  starts 
from  the  Whole,  but  ascribes  an  intrinsic  value  to  every 
Partial  Whole,  down  to  and  including  the  Individual.'  ^  '  In 
the  Universal  Whole,  Mankind  is  one  Partial  Whole  with  a  final 
cause  of  its  own,  which  is  distinct  from  the  final  causes  of 
fore,  the  order  in  the  parts  is  to  the  order  in  the  whole,  as  it  is  to  the  end 
and  highest  good  aimed  at '  {Pars  ad  totum  se  babel,  sicut  ad  finem  et 
optimum.  Ergo  et  ordo  in  parte,  ad  ordinem  in  toto,  sicut  ad  Jin  em  et  optimum) 
(i.  vi.).  '  Further,  the  whole  human  race  is  a  whole  with  reference  to  cer- 
tain parts,  and,  with  reference  to  another  whole,  it  is  a  part.  For  it  is 
a  whole  with  reference  to  particular  kingdoms  and  nations  .  .  . ,  and  it  is 
a  part  with  reference  to  the  whole  universe.  ...  It  is  only  under  the  rule  of 
one  prince  that  the  parts  of  humanity  are  well  adapted  to  their  whole  .  .  .  ; 
therefore,  it  is  only  by  being  under  one  Princedom,  or  the  rule  of  a  single 
Prince,  that  humanity  as  a  whole  is  well  adapted  to  the  Universe,  or  its 
Prince,  who  is  the  One  God  '  (i.  vii.). 

*  Gierke  (Professor  of  Law  in  the  University  of  Berlin),  Political  Theories 
of  the  Middle  Age,  translated  with  an  Introduction  (pp.  vii-xlv)  by  Maitland, 
1900,  pp.  3-4.  Both  the  text  and  the  introduction  show  rare  scholarship, 
and  there  are  almost  a  hundred  pages  (101-197)  of  notes  full  of  learning 
on  mediaeval  thought.  See  especially  the  chapters,  '  Macrocosm  and 
Microcosm  '  ;  '  Unity  in  Church  and  State  '  ;  '  The  Idea  of  Organization  '  ; 
*  The  Idea  of  Personality  '  ;  '  The  Relation  of  the  State  to  the  Law  ', 

*  Ibid.,  p.  7. 


The  Mediaeval  Ideal  179 

Individuals  and  from  those  of  other  Communities .1  Therefore, 
in  all  centuries  of  the  Middle  Age  Christendom,  which  in 
destiny  is  identical  with  Mankind,  is  set  before  us  as  a  single, 
universal  Community,  founded  and  governed  by  God  Himself. 
Mankind  is  one  "  mystical  body  "  ;  it  is  one  single  and  inter- 
nally connected  "  people  "  or  "  folk  "  ;  it  is  an  all-embracing 
corporation  (universitas),  which  constitutes  that  Universal 
Realm,  spiritual  and  temporal,  which  may  be  called  the 
Universal  Church  {ecclesia  universalis),  or,  with  equal  pro- 
priety, the  Commonwealth  of  the  Human  Race  (respublica  generis 
humani).  Therefore  that  it  may  attain  its  one  purpose,  it  needs 
One  Law  (lex)  and  One  Government  (unicus  principatus).'  ^ 

'  Le  moyen  age  fournit  un  beau  chapitre  a  I'interessant 
sujet  de  I'ideal  de  la  paix  dans  I'histoire.'  ^ 

3.  Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace*  (Modern).  The  best-known  are 

those  of  the  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre,  Rousseau,  Bentham,  and  Kant. 

The  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre's  Projet  de  Paix  perpetuelle^  was 

^  'Dante,  I,  c.  3  and  4,  endeavours  to  define  the  common  purpose  of 
Mankind.  He  finds  it  in  the  continuous  activity  of  the  whole  potency  of 
Reason,  primarily  in  the  speculative,  secondarily  in  the  practical.  This  is 
the  '  operatio  propria  universitatis  humanae ' ;  the  individual  man,  the 
household,  the  civitas  and  the  regnum  particulare  are  insufficient  for  it. 
For  the  achievement  of  it  only  a  World-Realm  will  serve,  and  the 
propinquissimum  medium  is  the  establishment  of  an  Universal  Peace. 
Comp.  Ill,  c.  16.'     Ibid..)  note,  p.  103. 

^  Gierke,  op.  cit.,  p.  10,  and  note,  pp.  103-4,  o"  mediaeval  thought  in 
relation  to  the  Universal  Church  and  the  Commonwealth  of  Mankind.  See, 
further,  pp.  17-18,  22  (Society  as  organism),  75-6  (the  Law  of  God,  of 
Nature,  and  of  Nations — lus  Commune  Gentium,  such  law  as  all  nations  agreed 
in  recognizing),  90-1  (the  Final  Cause  of  the  State),  and  notes  on  pp.  188-9. 
^  Nys,  Les  Origines  du  Droit  International  (i  894),  p.  388.  The  high  mission 
of  the  Emperor  was  to  maintain  peace.  '  Imperator-pacificus,  tel  etait 
le  plus  ancien,  le  plus  beau  de  ses  titres.'  Ibid.,  p.  390.  '  Karolus  gratia 
Dei  Rex  ...  a  Deo  coronatus  magnus  Pacificus  Imperator.' 

*  Nys,  ch.  xiv,  'Les  Irenistes,' gives  mediaeval  anticipations  and  analogies. 
See  also  the  chapter,  '  La  Paix  et  les  Traites  de  Paix  ',  pp.  264-77. 

*  '  Projet  de  Traite  pour  rendre  la  paix  perpetuelle  entre  les  souverains 
Chretiens,  pour  maintenir  toujours  le  commerce  entre  les  nations  et  pour 

N  2 


i8o    The  LiteraUire  of  International  Relations 

published  at  the  time  of  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  the  Conference 
of  which  was  attended  by  him ;  and  his  Ahrege  du  Projet  de 
Paix  perpetuelle^  in  which  his  plan  is  developed,  was  published 
in  1729. 

Wheaton  has  drawn  attention  to  the  '  almost  verbal  coinci- 
dence '  between  certain  articles  in  Saint-Pierre's  Project  and 
those  of  the  fundamental  act  of  the  Germanic  Confederation 
established  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  He  goes  on  to  say  : 
'  Fleury,  to  whom  Saint-Pierre  communicated  his  plan, 
replied  to  him  :  "  Vous  avez  oublie  un  article  essentiel,  celui 
d'envoyer  des  missionnaires  pour  toucher  les  coeurs  des  princes 
et  leur  persuader  d'entrer  dans  vos  vues."  But  Dubois  bestowed 
upon  him  the  highest  praise  expressed  in  the  most  felicitous 
manner,  when  he  termed  his  ideas  :  "  les  reves  d'un  homme  de 
bien."  And  Rousseau  published  in  1761  a  little  work  to  which 
he  modestly  gave  the  title  of  Extrait  du  Projet  de  Paix  per- 
petuelle  de  M.  VAbbe  de  Saint-Pierre,  but  which  is  stamped 
with  the  marks  of  Rousseau's  peculiar  genius  as  a  system- 
builder,  and  reasoner  upon  the  problem  of  social  science.'  ^ 

*  Une  lettre  d'envoi  6tait  jointe  a  I'ouvrage ',  says  M.  Nys, 
writing  on  the  Project  of  Saint-Pierre.  *  C'est  un  projet,  y 
lit-on,  dont  peut-etre  ni  vous  ni  moi  ne  verrons  jamais  un 
fruit ;  mais  par  reconnaissance  de  ce  que  nous  avons  re^u  de 
bien  de  nos  ancetres,  ne  devons-nous  pas  tacher  d'en  procurer 
encore  plus  grands  a  notre  post6rite  ?  Noble  affirmation  non 
point  seulement  de  la  continuity  du  progres,  mais  du  devoir 
pour  tout  homme  de  travailler  a  ce  developpement  des  forces 
de  I'humanite,  qu'au  d6but  du  xiv"  siecle,  Dante  entrevoyait 
et  qu'il  appelait  de  ce  beau  mot,  civilitaSy  la  civihsation.'  * 

affermir  beaucoup  davantage  ies  maisons  souveraines  sur  le  trdne,  propose 
autrefois  par  Henri  le  Grand  Roi  de  France,  agr^e  par  la  Reine  Elisabeth, 
par  Jaques  I,  et  par  la  plupart  des  autres  potentats  de  I'Europe.' — 2  vols., 
1712  (about  700  pages)  ;  a  third  in  1717. 

*  3  vols.  •  History  of  the  Law  oj  Nations,  pp.  263-4. 

•  Les  Origines  du  Droit  International,  pp.  398-9. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  i8i 

One  of  the  articles  of  Saint-Pierre's  Project  stipulated  that 
if  any  of  the  allied  Powers  should  refuse  to  give  effect  to  the 
judgements  of  the  grand  alliance,  or  should  negotiate  treaties  in 
contravention  of  these  judgements,  the  alliance  should  oppose 
the  force  of  arms  to  the  offending  Power  until  it  was  brought  to 
obedience.!  The  succeeding  article  of  confederation  declared 
that  the  general  assembly  of  plenipotentiaries  of  this  European 
alliance  should  have  power  to  enact  by  a  plurality  of  votes 
all  laws  necessary  and  proper  to  give  effect  to  the  objects  of 
the  alliance  ;  but  no  alteration  in  the  fundamental  articles  was 
to  be  made  without  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  allies. 

These  two  articles  form  the  link  in  the  Projects  of  Perpetual 
Peace  of  Saint-Pierre,  Rousseau,  Kant,  and  Bentham. 

How  were  the  rights  of  the  Federation  to  be  extended  and 
secured  without  impairing  those  of  sovereignty  ?  How  is 
each  State  to  be  left  master  in  its  own  house,  and  yet  fulfil 
the  duty  which  it  owes  to  the  Federation  ?  That,  as  Rousseau 
clearly  saw,  was  the  vital  problem,  and  to  no  political  thinker 
could  it  be  more  real  and  critical  than  to  the  interpreter  and 
champion  of  the  general  will  in  politics  and  the  upholder 
of  the  rights  of  small  States  and  of  the  saving  function  of 
Federation  in  their  behalf. 

We  may  express  the  problem  in  the  terms  of  the  problem  of 
the  Social  Contract :  '  Trouver  une  forme  d'association  qui 
defende  et  protege  de  toute  la  force  commune  la  personne  et 
les  biens  de  chaque  associe,  et  par  laquelle  chacun,  s'unissant 
a  tous,  n'obeisse  pourtant  qu'a  lui-meme,  et  teste  aussi  libre 
qu'auparavant.'  '^ 

'  En  elfet,  chaque  individu  peut,  comme  homme,  avoir  une 
volonte  particuliere  contraire  ou  dissemblable  a  la  volonte 
generale  qu'il  a  comme  citoyen  ;    son  interet  particulier  peut 

^  Article  4.  See  Extrait  du  Projet  de  Paix  perpetuelle  in  Rousseau's 
CEuvres  (1839),  iv.  267  ;  Vaughan,  The  Political  Workings  oj  Jean  Jacques 
Rousseau,  2  vols.,  191 5,  i,  p.  375.  ^  Du  Contrat  Social,  liv.  i,  c.  vi. 


1 82    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

lui  parler  tout  autrement  que  I'interet  commun  ;  son  existence 
absolue,  et  naturellement  independante,  peut  lui  faire  envisager 
ce  qu'il  doit  a  la  cause  commune  comme  une  contribution 
gratuite,  dont  la  perte  sera  moins  nuisible  aux  autres  que  le 
paiement  n'en  est  onereux  pour  lui ;  et  regardant  la  personne 
morale  qui  constitue  I'etat  comme  un  etre  de  raison,  parceque 
ce  n'est  pas  un  homme,  il  jouiroit  des  droits  du  citoyen  sans 
vouloir  remplir  les  devoirs  du  sujet ;  injustice  dont  le  progres 
causeroit  la  ruine  du  corps  politique. 

*  Afin  done  que  le  pacte  social  ne  soit  pas  un  vain  formulaire, 
il  renferme  tacitement  cet  engagement,  qui  seul  peut  donner 
de  la  force  aux  autres,  que  quiconque  refusera  d'obeir  a  la 
volonte  generale  y  sera  contraint  par  tout  le  corps ;  ce  qui  ne 
signifie  autre  chose  sinon  qu'on  le  forcera  d'etre  libre  ;  car 
telle  est  la  condition  qui,  donnant  chaque  citoyen  a  la  patrie, 
le  garantit  de  toute  dependance  personnelle  ;  condition  qui 
fait  I'artifice  et  le  jeu  de  la  machine  politique,  et  qui  seule 
rend  legitimes  les  engagements  civils,  lesquels,  sans  cela, 
seroient  absurdes,  tyranniques,  et  sujets  aux  plus  enormes  abus.'* 

'  Tout  malfaiteur,  attaquant  le  droit  social,  devient  par  ses 
forfaits  rebelle  et  traitre  a  la  patrie  ;  il  cesse  d'en  etre  membre 
en  violant  ses  lois ;  et  meme  il  lui  fait  la  guerre.  Alors  la 
conservation  de  I'etat  est  incompatible  avec  la  sienne,  il  faut 
qu'un  des  deux  perisse  ;  et  quand  on  fait  mourir  le  coupable, 
c'est  moins  comme  citoyen  que  comme  ennemi.'  ^ 

Rousseau's  Contrat  Social  ou  Principes  du  Droit  politique  was 
only  part  of  the  Institutions  politiques  planned  by  him.  In 
the  concluding  chapter  he  made  it  clear  that  it  could  not  fall 
within  his  purpose  in  that  work  to  examine  the  principles  of 
international  right,  although  it  was  a  task  that  might  very 
well  be  undertaken  as  a  supplement  to  his  endeavour  in  the 
Social  Contract  to  lay  down  the  true  principles  of  right  in 
politics  and  to  found  the  State  on  that  secure  basis.^    Already  in 

*  Du  Contrat  Social,  i.  vii.  *  Ibid.,  ii.  v. 

'  '  Apris  avoir  pose  les  vrais  principes  du  droit  politique,  et  tache  de 
fonder  I'etat  sur  sa  base,  il  resteroit  a  I'appuycr  par  ses  relations  extcrncs  : 
ce  qui  comprendroit  le  droit  des  gens,  le  commerce,  le  droit  de  la  guerre 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  183 

his  Extrait  de  la  Paix  perpetuelle  ^  and  in  his  Jugement  sur  la 
Paix  perpetuelle^^  as  well  as  in  Emile,  which  was  published  in 
the  same  year  *  as  the  Social  Contract^  Rousseau  shows  his 
attitude  of  mind  on  the  larger  and  wider  questions  of  the  exter- 
nal and  international  relations  of  States. 

'  Si  jamais  verite  morale  fut  demontree,  il  me  semble  que 
c'est  I'utilite  generale  et  particuliere  de  ce  projet.  Les  avan- 
tages  qui  resulteroient  de  son  execution,  et  pour  chaque 
prince,  et  pour  chaque  peuple,  et  pour  toute  I'Europe,  sont 
immenses,  clairs,  incontestables ;  on  ne  peut  rien  de  plus 
solide  et  de  plus  exact  que  les  raisonnements  par  lesquels 
I'auteur  les  etablit.  Realisez  sa  republique  europeenne  durant 
un  seul  jour,  e'en  est  assez  pour  la  faire  durer  eternellement, 
tant  chacun  trouveroit  par  I'experience  son  profit  particuHer 
dans  le  bien  commun.  Cependant  ces  memes  princes,  qui  la 
defendroient  de  toutes  leurs  forces  si  elle  existoit,  s'opposeroient 
maintenant  de  meme  a  son  execution,  et  I'empecheront 
infailliblement  de  s'etablir  comme  ils  I'empecheroient  de 
s'eteindre.  Ainsi  I'ouvrage  de  I'abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  sur  la 
paix  perpetuelle  paroit  d'abord  inutile  pour  la  produire  et 
superflu  pour  la  conserver.  C'est  done  une  vaine  speculation, 
dira  quelque  lecteur  impatient.  Non,  c'est  un  livre  solide 
et  sense,  et  il  est  tres  important  qu'il  existe.'  * 

'  Un  prince  qui  met  sa  cause  au  hasard  de  la  guerre  n'ignore 
pas  qu'il  court  des  risques ;  mais  il  en  est  moins  frappe  que 
des  avantages  qu'il  se  promet,  parcequ'il  craint  bien  moins 
la  fortune  qu'il  n'espere  de  sa  propre  sagesse  :  s'il  est  puis- 
sant, il  compte  sur  ses  forces ;  s'il  est  foible,  il  compte  sur  ses 

et  les  conquetes,  le  droit  public,  les  ligues,  les  negociations,  les  traites,  etc. 
Mais   tout  cela  forme  un  nouvel  objet  trop  vaste  pour  ma  courte  vue  ; 
j'aurois  du  la  fixer  toujours  plus  pres  de  moi '. — iv.  ix. 
^  Published  in  1761  ;  written  in  1756. 

*  Published  in  1782;   written  in  1756.  '  1762. 

*  Jugement  sur  la  Paix  perpetuelle,  CEuvres  (1839),  t.  iv,  pp.  280-1  ; 
Vaughan  (with  slight  variations,  e.  g.  *  Republique  '  for  '  republique  ', 
'  resulteraient '  for  '  resulteroient ',  and  a  colon  instead  of  a  comma  after 
'  eternellement '),  i,  p.  388. 


184    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

alliances  ;  quelquefois  il  lui  est  utile  au-dedans  de  purger  de 
mauvaises  humeurs,  d'affoiblir  des  sujets  indociles,  d'essuyer 
meme  des  revers ;  et  le  politique  habile  sait  tirer  avantage  de 
ses  propres  defaites.  J'espere  qu'on  se  souviendra  que  ce 
n'est  pas  moi  qui  raisonne  ainsi,  mais  le  sophiste  de  cour, 
qui  prefere  un  grand  territoire,  et  peu  de  sujets  pauvres  et 
soumis,  a  I'empire  inebranlable  que  donnent  au  prince  la 
justice  et  les  lois  sur  un  peuple  heureux  et  florissant.'  ^ 

*  II  ne  faut  pas  non  plus  croire  avec  l'abb6  de  Saint-Pierre 
que,  meme  avec  la  bonne  volonte  que  les  princes  ni  leurs 
ministres  n'auront  jamais,  il  fut  aise  de  trouver  un  moment 
favorable  a  I'execution  de  ce  systeme  ;  car  il  faudroit  pour 
cela  que  la  somme  des  interets  particuliers  ne  I'emportat  pas 
sur  I'interet  commun,  et  que  chacun  crut  voir  dans  le  bien 
de  tous  le  plus  grand  bien  qu'il  pent  esperer  pour  lui-meme. 
Or  ceci  demande  un  concours  de  sagesse  dans  tant  de  tetes, 
et  un  concours  de  rapports  dans  tant  d'interets,  qu'on  ne  doit 
guere  esperer  du  hasard  I'accord  fortuit  de  toutes  les  circon- 
stances  necessaires :  cependant  si  cet  accord  n'a  pas  lieu,  il 
n'y  a  que  la  force  qui  puisse  y  suppleer  ;  et  alors  il  n'est  plus 
question  de  persuader,  mais  de  contraindre  ;  et  il  ne  faut  plus 
ecrire  des  livres,  mais  lever  des  troupes. 

'  Ainsi,  quoique  le  projet  fut  tres  sage,  les  moyens  de  I'exe- 
cuter  se  sentoient  de  la  simplicite  de  I'auteur.  II  s'imaginoit 
bonnement  qu'il  ne  falloit  qu'assembler  un  congres,  y  proposer 
ses  articles,  qu'on  les  alloit  signer,  et  que  tout  seroit  fait. 
Convenons  que,  dans  tous  les  projets  de  cet  honnete  homme, 
il  voyoit  assez  bien  I'effet  des  choses  quand  elles  seroient 
etablies ;  mais  il  jugeoit  comme  un  enfant  des  moyens  de  les 
aablir.'  2 

This  very  difficulty  confronted  Rousseau  in  his  Social  Contract. 
Men  and  conditions  being  what  they  are,  how  was  a  true  system 
of  legislation  to  be  instituted  in  any  State  ?  What  was  the 
right  moment  for  instituting  it  ?  How  was  it  to  be  sustained  ? 
By  what  sanction  ? 

*  (Euvres,  iv,  p.  283  ;  Vaaghan,  i,  pp.  390-1. 
2  iv,  p.  z84  ;  i,  p.  392. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  185 

'  I.e  corps  politique  a-t-il  un  organe  pour  enoncer  ses 
volontes  ?  Qui  lui  donnera  la  prevoyance  necessaire  pour 
en  former  les  actes  et  les  publier  d'avance  ?  ou  comment  les 
prononcera-t-il  au  moment  du  besoin  ?  Comme  une  multitude 
aveugle,  qui  souvent  ne  sait  ce  qu'elle  veut,  parcequ'elle  sait 
rarement  ce  qui  lui  est  bon,  executeroit  -  elle  d'elle-meme 
une  entreprise  aussi  grande,  aussi  difficile,  qu'un  systeme  de 
legislation  ?  De  lui-meme  le  peuple  veut  toujours  le  bien,  mais 
de  lui-meme  il  ne  le  voit  pas  toujours.  La  volonte  generale 
est  toujours  droite,  mais  le  jugement  qui  la  guide  n'est  pas 
toujours  eclaire.  II  faut  lui  faire  voir  les  objets  tels  qu'ils  sont, 
quelquefois  tels  qu'ils  doivent  lui  paroitre  ;  lui  montrer  le 
bon  chemin  qu'elle  cherche,  la  garantir  de  la  seduction  des 
volontes  particulieres,  rapprocher  a  ses  yeux  les  lieux  et  les 
temps,  balancer  I'attrait  des  avantages  presents  et  sensibles 
par  le  danger  des  maux  eloignes  et  caches.  Les  particuliers 
voient  le  bien  qu'ils  rejettent  ;  le  public  veut  le  bien  qu'il 
ne  voit  pas.  Tons  ont  egalement  besoin  de  guides.  II  faut 
obliger  les  uns  a  conformer  leurs  volontes  a  leur  raison  ;  il 
faut  apprendre  a  I'autre  a  connoitre  ce  qu'il  veut.  Alors 
des  lumieres  publiques  resulte  I'union  de  I'entendement  et 
de  la  volonte  dans  le  corps  social ;  de  la  I'exact  concours  des 
parties,  et  enfin  la  plus  grande  force  du  tout.'  ^ 

Rousseau  wrote  his  Jugement  sur  la  Paix  perpetuelle  in  the 
year  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Seven  Years'  War.  The  right 
moment  for  instituting  a  league  for  perpetual  peace  might 
well  seem  dim  and  distant.  How  could  one,  in  the  circumstance 
of  that  time,  look  for  a  common  accord,  or  hope  for  a  sudden 
inspiration  ?  ^  How  should  one  criticize,  and  yet  commend, 
the  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  ? 

*  Qu'on  ne  dise  done  point  que  si  son  systeme  n'a  pas  ete 
adopte,  c'est  qu'il  n'etoit  pas  bon  ;  car  le  mal  et  les  abus, 
dont  tant  de  gens  profitent,  s'introduisent  d'eux-memes. 
Mais  ce  qui  est  utile  au  public  ne  s'introduit  guere  que  par 

^  Du  Contrat  Social,  1.  ii,  c.  vi ;  CEuvres,  iv,  p.  341  ;  Vaughan,  ii,  pp.  50-1. 

*  '  Sera-ce  d'un  commun  accord,  par  une  inspiration  subite  ? ' — Du 
Contrat  Social,  1.  11,  c.  vi. 


1 86    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

la  force,  attendu  que  les  interets  particuliers  y  sont  presque 
toujours  opposes.  Sans  doute  la  paix  perpetuelle  est  a  present 
un  projet  bien  absurde  ;  mais  qu'on  nous  rende  un  Henri  IV 
et  un  Sully,  la  paix  perpetuelle  redeviendra  un  projet  raison- 
nable  :  ou  plutot  admirons  un  si  beau  plan,  mais  consolons- 
nous  de  ne  pas  le  voir  executer  ;  car  cela  ne  peut  se  faire  que 
par  des  moyens  violents  et  redoutables  a  I'humanite. 

*  On  ne  voit  point  de  ligues  federatives  s'etablir  autrement 
que  par  des  revolutions  :  et,  sur  ce  principe,  qui  de  nous 
oseroit  dire  si  cette  ligue  europeenne  est  a  desirer  ou  a  craindre  ? 
EUe  feroit  peut-etre  plus  de  mal  tout  d'un  coup  qu'elle  n'en 
previendroit  pour  des  siecles.'  ^ 

In  £inile  Rousseau  shows  how,  in  fulfiUing  the  plan  of  his 
Institutions  politiques^  he  would  have  connected  his  study  of 
the  Social  Contract  with  the  study  of  Federation  and  of  inter- 
national relations. 

*  Apres  avoir  ainsi  considere  chaque  espece  de  societe 
civile  en  elle-meme,  nous  les  comparerons  pour  en  observer  les 
divers  rapports :  les  unes  grandes,  les  autres  petites ;  les  unes 
fortes,  les  autres  foibles  :  s'attaquant,  s'offensant,  s'entre- 
detruisant ;  et  dans  cette  action  et  reaction  continuelle, 
faisant  plus  de  miserables,  et  coutant  la  vie  a  plus  d'hommes  que 
s'ils  avoient  tous  garde  leur  premiere  liberte.  Nous  examine- 
rons  si  I'on  n'en  a  pas  fait  trop  ou  trop  peu  dans  ^institution 
sociale  ;  si  les  individus  soumis  aux  lois  et  aux  hommes,  tandis 
que  les  societes  gardent  entre  elles  I'independance  de  la  nature, 
ne  restent  pas  exposes  aux  maux  des  deux  etats,  sans  en  avoir 
les  avantages ;  et  s'il  ne  vaudroit  pas  mieux  qu'il  n'y  eut  point 
de  soci6t6  civile  au  monde  que  d'y  en  avoir  plusieurs.  N'est- 
ce  pas  cet  etat  mixte  qui  participe  a  tous  les  deux  et  n'assure 
ni  I'un  ni  I'autre,  per  quern  neutrum  licet,  nee  tanquam  in  beUo 
paratum  esse,  nee  tanquam  in  paee  seeurum  ?  N'est-ce  pas  cette 
association  partielle  et  imparfaite  qui  produit  la  tyrannie  et 
la  guerre  ?  et  la  tyrannie  et  la  guerre  ne  sont-elles  pas  les 
plus  grands  fl6aux  de  I'humanite  ? 

*  Jugement  sur  la  Paix  perpeiudle — concluding  words,  (Euvres,  iv,  p.  288 ; 
Vaughan,  i,  p.  396. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  187 

*  Nous  examinerons  enfin  I'espece  de  remedes  qu'on  a 
cherches  a  ces  inconvenients  par  les  ligues  et  confederations, 
qui,  laissant  chaque  fitat  son  maitre  au  dedans,  I'arment  au 
dehors  contre  tout  agresseur  in  juste.  Nous  rechercherons 
comment  on  peut  etablir  une  bonne  association  federative, 
ce  qui  peut  la  rendre  durable  ;  et  jusqu'a  quel  point  on  peut 
etendre  le  droit  de  la  confederation,  sans  nuire  a  celui  de  la 
souverainete. 

'  L'abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  avoit  propose  une  association  de 
tons  les  Etats  de  I'Europe  pour  maintenir  entre  eux  une  paix 
perpetuelle.  Cette  association  etoit-elle  praticable  ?  et,  sup- 
posant  qu'elle  eut  ete  etablie,  etoit-il  a  presumer  qu'elle 
eut  dure  ?  ^  Ces  recherches  nous  menent  directement  a  toutes 
les  questions  de  droit  public  qui  peuvent  achever  d'eclaircir 
celles  du  droit  politique.'  ^ 

The  Utopians  thought  that  leagues  are  useless  things,  and 
that,  if  the  common  ties  of  human  nature  do  not  knit  men 
together,  the  faith  of  promises  will  not  be  of  great  effect  on 
them  :  the  partnership  of  human  nature,  that  which  is  of 
all  men  and  for  all  men,  is  instead  of  a  league.^ 

But  the  contribution  made  by  Rousseau,  and  partly  by 
Saint-Pierre  through  him,  to  the  promulgation  of  projects 
of  Perpetual  Peace  has  been  so  influential,  and  subsequent 
contributors  have  added  so  little  of  positive  value,  that  a  more 
explicit  account  of  what  he  said  and  how  he  reasoned,  may  be 
allowed  and  may  be  of  use. 

The  imperfections  of  governments,  Rousseau  argued,  are 
due  less  to  their  constitution  than  to  their  external  relations. 
The  greater  part  of  the  care  which  ought  to  be  devoted  to 
internal  administration  and  welfare  is  withheld  owing  to  the 
need  of  mere  external  security ;    not  the  perfecting  of  itself, 

^  This  was  written  before  the  publication  of  the  Extrait  de  la  Paix  per- 
petuelle in  1761. 

-  (Euvres,  iii,  pp.  571-2  ;   Vaughan,  ii,  pp.  157-8. 

^  More,  Utopia,  pp.  118,  120,  of  ed.  in  English  by  Burnet,  1762. 


1 88    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

but  the  mere  preservation  of  the  State  against  others,  has  the 
larger  claim  upon  its  time  and  energies.  The  ordering  of  social 
relations  is  not,  as  is  too  often  assumed,  the  work  of  reason  ; 
rather  is  it  the  work  of  the  passions.  We  have  gone  either 
too  far  or  not  far  enough  ;  we  have  done  either  too  much  or 
too  little.  Society  is  so  organized  that  each  of  us  is  a  fellow- 
citizen  with  the  members  of  his  own  State,  and  yet  is  in  a  state 
of  nature  toward  all  the  rest  of  mankind.  In  other  words,  men 
have  prevented  the  lesser  wars  only  to  kindle  wars  that  are 
greater  and  a  thousand-fold  more  terrible.  They  have  made 
particular  unions  among  themselves  and  in  so  doing  have 
really  become  enemies  of  the  human  race. 

These  are  dangerous  contradictions  in  the  ordering  of  the 
affairs  of  men  and  the  world.  If  there  be  any  means  of  removing 
them,  perhaps  it  is  only  through  some  form  of  federal  govern- 
ment by  which  peoples  may  be  united  by  ties  similar  to  those 
which  unite  individuals ;  by  which  peoples  not  less  than 
individuals  are  rendered  subject  to  laws.^  This  government, 
moreover,  has  this  superiority  over  all  others,  that  it  combines 
the  advantages  of  large  and  small  States  :  it  will  be  formidable 
without,  owing  to  its  power ;  laws  will  be  enforced ;  it  alone 
among  Governments  will  contain  at  once  subjects,  persons  in 
authority,  and  foreigners.  In  certain  respects  it  is  a  new  form 
of  government.  But  it  was  not  unknown  to  the  ancients.^ 
The  ancient  confederations,  however,  were  inferior  in  wisdom 
to  the  Germanic  and  the  Helvetic  and  to  the  States-General. 
Such  confederations  are  still  few  and  they  are  far  from  per- 
fection.   But  that  only  shows  that  in  politics  as  in  ethics  the 

*  ' .  .  .  une  form?  dc  gouvcriicment  confederative,  qui,  unissant  les  peuplcs 
par  des  liens  semblables  a  ceux  qui  unissent  les  individus,  soumette  egale- 
ment  les  uns  et  les  autres  k  I'autorite  des  lois.* 

*  '  Les  derniers  soupirs  dc  la  Grecc  devinrent  encore  illustres  dans  la 
igue  acheenne.' 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  189 

range  of  our  knowledge  does  little  more  than  convince  us  how 
great  are  our  evils. 

Besides  these  leagues  of  a  public  and  positive  character, 
there  may  be  tacit  unions  less  apparent  and  yet  not  less  real, 
resulting  from  a  harmony  of  interests,  an  affinity  of  principles, 
a  conformity  of  customs,  or  other  factors  that  induce  some 
common  relationship  between  peoples  who  are  divided.  Thus 
may  we  say  that  all  the  Powers  of  Europe  form  a  *  system  '  ^ 
among  themselves  uniting  them  by  community  of  commerce, 
letters,  manners,  religion,  and  international  law,  and  by  regard 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  resulting  equilibrium,  which  it  may 
be  no  one's  special  concern  to  maintain  but  which  it  would  be 
less  easy  to  destroy  than  many  people  think.  There  is  a  Society 
of  the  Peoples  of  Europe,  with  its  roots  in  the  past.  From 
Rome  have  come  to  some  of  them  codes  of  law.  A  stronger 
bond  still,  and  one  affecting  more  of  them,  is  their  religion.  We 
must  allow  also  for  the  facilities  and  the  vast  variety  of  inter- 
course among  the  peoples  of  Europe.  We  can  speak,  therefore, 
of  '  a  Europe  '  in  a  real  sense  in  which  we  cannot  conceive 
Asia  or  Africa.  In  Asia  or  in  Africa  we  have  merely  a  collection 
of  peoples  with  nothing  in  common  except  that  they  belong 
to  the  same  continent.  But  when  we  speak  of  '  Europe  '  the 
word  at  once  suggests  to  the  mind  a  real  society  founded  on 
a  community  of  manners,  customs,  religion,  and  even  laws  ; 
and  none  of  the  peoples  making  up  this  Society  can  recede 
from  its  place  and  function  in  it  without  at  once  being  the 
cause  of  troubles. 

No  doubt,  it  is  easy  to  make  sharp  the  contrasts  that  facts 
seem  to  force  upon  us — easy  to  set  perpetual  dissensions  and 
the  savagery  of  wars  against  the  benevolence  of  the  religion 
that  is  professed,  the  cruelty  of  the  deed  against  the  humanity 
of  the  maxim,  the  harshness  of  policy  against  the  so  great 
^  '  Une  sorte  de  systime.' 


190    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

wisdom  of  the  politics  of  the  books,  the  excellent  intentions 
of  the  heads  of  States,  and  the  misery  and  degradation  of  their 
peoples,  a  fraternity  of  the  peoples  of  Europe,  against  their 
mutual  animosity.  *  The  Society  of  the  Peoples  of  Europe ' 
may  well  seem  to  be  but  a  term  of  derision — an  irony  to  express 
more  pointedly  the  mutual  distrust  of  the  nations  of  Chris- 
tendom. 

The  relative  state  of  the  Powers  of  Europe  is  in  itself  a  state 
of  war  ;  let  that  be  granted.    Mutual  engagements  are  entered 
upon.    There  is  a  lack  of  effective  guarantees  for  their  obser- 
vance.   Thus  it  is  that  each  treaty,  which  from  its  very  nature 
is  merely  partial  and  between  some  only  of  these  Powers,  is 
rather  a  short-lived  truce  than  a  true  peace — ^is  a  provocative 
to  war  as  soon  as  a  change  of  circumstances  shall  have  given  fresh 
strength  to  claims  of  ambition  or  of  right.     Nor  must  it  be 
forgotten  that  the  public  law  of  Europe  has  not  been  established 
or  authorized  by  consent ;   it  is  devoid  of  general  principles ; 
it  is  ever  changing  according  to  time  and  place ;   its  rules  are 
full  of  contradictions  which  make  it  a  prey  to  *  the  right  of 
the  strongest  '.     In  this  condition  of  things  reason  is  denied 
its  sway.    There  is  no  trustworthy  guide  where  things  are  so 
doubtful  and  hazardous.     Reason  may  be  excused  for  bending 
and  conforming  itself  to  selfish  interest ;  and  from  the  sway  of 
selfish  interest  wars  will  continue  to  be  unavoidable.    And  yet 
each  in  his  own  mind  would  be  just,  but  for  circumstances. 
There  is  a  general  sense  of  insecurity,  for  harmony  has  not  been 
attained  in  the  ordering  of  the  interests  and  government  of 
the  several  States  themselves,  much  less  between  State  and  State. 
*  Voila  les  causes  generates  et  particulieres  qui  nous  unissent 
pour  nous  detruire,  et  nous  font  ecrire  une  si  belle  doctrine 
sociale  avec  des  mains  toujours  teintes  de  sang  humain.' 

To  know  the  causes  is  to  know  the  remedy,  if  there  is  one. 
We  all  see  that  there  can  be  no  society  without  a  community  of 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  191 

interests,  and  that  all  division  arises  from  an  antagonism  of 
interests.  Reason  would  ask  :  Why  leave  so  much,  and  so  much 
that  is  vital,  to  mere  chance  and  to  the  unceasing  hazard  of 
things  that  in  themselves  are  most  trivial  ?  Reason  would  say  : 
When  there  is  a  society  there  must  needs  be  a  compulsory 
power  to  order  and  regulate  the  movements  of  its  members ; 
without  this  power  thus  applied  the  community  of  interests 
and  all  reciprocal  compacts  can  have  no  stability  ;  and  we  are 
thrust  back  on  a  state  of  contradictions,  uncertainties,  insecurity, 
unlaw,  and  war.  Let  no  one  make  the  grave  error  of  a  false 
hope  where  so  much  is  at  stake  :  let  no  one  imagine  that  this 
state  of  violence  will  pass  away  from  the  sheer  force  of  things 
and  without  calling  in  the  aid  of  art  and  of  political  thought 
which  must  guide  that  art.  '  The  system  of  Europe  has 
precisely  that  degree  of  stability  which  suffices  to  maintain 
it  in  perpetual  agitation  without  entirely  overthrowing  it  ; 
and  if  the  evils  we  have  thus  to  endure  cannot  be  augmented, 
still  less  should  we  look  forward  to  an  end  being  put  to  them  by 
any  great  revolution.' 

Howsoever  the  existing  balance  of  power  in  Europe  has  come 
about — ^whether  from  geographical  necessity  and  thus  by 
nature,  or  by  art — ^we  have  to  reckon  with  it,  and  to  recognize 
that  it  is  self-existing,  self-supporting,  for  do  we  not  see  that 
when  it  is  disturbed  in  one  part  it  gives  way  only  to  re-establish 
itself  forthwith  in  another  ?  Princes  who  have  been  charged 
with  aiming  at  universal  monarchy  have  shown  therein,  if  the 
charge  is  well-founded,  more  ambition  than  genius.  A 
moment's  reflection  shows  how  absurd  is  the  project.  No 
European  potentate  can  hope  to  vanquish  the  rest  of  the  Powers 
of  Europe  in  their  existing  state  of  development,  military, 
economic,  and  political,  and  with  the  facilities  they  possess 
for  co-operation  against  the  ambitions  of  the  aggressor  ;  nor 
can  we  imagine  a  combination  of  great  Powers  sufficiently 


192    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

sincere,  harmonious  and  durable,  to  be  able  to  subjugate  and 
to  hold  in  subjection  the  rest  of  Europe.    It  is  not  that  the  sea, 
the  Rhine,  the  Alps,  and  the  Pyrenees  are  obstacles  that  no 
ambition  can  surmount.    These  physical  obstacles  are  fortified 
by  others  that  spring  from  the  nature  and  contrivances  of  men. 
The  give-and-take  of  negotiations  is  an  essential  aid  to  the 
same  end  :    *  preserve  the  balance  '  is  the  almost  unvarying 
watchword.    There  is  a  more  solid  support.    This  support  is 
the  Germanic  body  which,  placed  almost  in  the  centre  of  Europe, 
may  be  thought  to  contribute  even  more  to  the  maintenance 
of  its  neighbours  in  their  existing  states  than  to  that  even  of 
its  o\Mi  members.     It  is  a  body  formidable  on  account  of  the 
extent  of  its  territories  and  the  vast  number  and  valour  of  its 
peoples.    Its  very  constitution  renders  it  formidable,  for  that 
is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  take  from  it  both  the  desire  and  the 
means  of  conquest,  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  it  a  stout 
obstacle  to  those  who  are  ambitious  to  conquer.    This  constitu- 
tion of  the  Empire  has  undoubted  defects,  and  yet  it  is  certain 
that  while  it  subsists  the  equilibrium  of  Europe  will  never  be 
entirely  destroyed,  and  that  no  sovereign  of  a  European  State 
need  fear  that  he  will  be  driven  from  his  throne  by  another ; 
the  treaty  of  Westphalia  will  perhaps  remain  for  ever  the  basis 
of  our  political  system.     Thus  public  law,  a  study  which 
Germans  cultivate  with  so  much  diligence,  is  even  more  im- 
portant than  they  suppose.     It  is  not  only  the  public  law  of 
the  Germanic  body  ;  it  is  the  public  law  of  the  whole  of  Europe. 
The  existing  system  may  be  durable,  but  it  is  far  from 
being  one  of  rest  :  it  is  an  uneasy  equilibrium.    The  system  is 
maintained  only  by  an  action  and  reaction  which,  without 
suddenly  displacing  any  of  the  Powers,  keeps  them  in  continual 
agitation.    Their  efforts  are  ever  in  vain  and  yet  ever  being 
renewed,  even  as  waves  of  the  sea  which  without  ceasing  agitate 
its  surface  but  cannot  change  its  level.    Suffering  falls  on  the 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  193 

peoples  of  Europe,  and  there  is  no  appreciable  gain  to  their 
sovereigns.  As  an  association  of  States  the  system  is  imperfect. 
It  is  necessary  to  erect  in  its  stead  a  solid  confederation  that 
shall  last.  That  cannot  be  done  unless  all  its  members  are 
brought  into  a  state  of  mutual  dependence,  so  that  no  one  of 
them  shall  be  in  a  position  to  resist  all  the  rest,  and  any  com- 
bination formed  for  particular  and  selfish  ends,  inimical  to  the 
interests  of  the  confederation,  shall  have  obstacles  opposed  to 
it  fully  adequate  to  prevent  these  ends  from  being  attained. 
There  are  several  clear  requisites.  The  confederation  must 
include  all  the  Powers  of  Europe ;  at  least,  no  Power  that  is  not 
one  of  the  weakest  shall  decline  to  be  a  member.  There  must 
be  a  common  tribunal  with  power  to  establish  general  laws 
and  regulations  binding  on  all  the  members.  It  must  have 
a  coercive  power  capable  both  of  compelling  and  restraining 
the  action  of  each  in  conformity  with  the  decisions  that  have 
been  taken  in  common.  It  must  have  power  capable  of  pre- 
venting any  member  from  seceding  from  the  confederation 
at  its  own  whim  and  impulse,  as  soon  as  it  imagines  that  its 
own  particular  interest  is  contrary  to  the  general  interest. 
Without  the  recognition  of  this  general  interest  no  such 
confederation  can  be  formed ;  without  it  none  that  may 
incautiously  be  formed  can  endure.  There  are  two  pre- 
requisites :  sufficient  reason  to  see  what  is  useful,  and  sufficient 
courage  to  do  what  is  essential  to  the  welfare  and  happiness 
of  society.! 

The  '  Germanic  body  '  was  far  spent  in  decay  and  was 
preparing  its  self-destruction  even  while  Rousseau  was  writing. 
The  Peace  of  Westphalia  might  well  seem  to  many  to  have 
been  traitorously  treated,  and  with  it  the  whole  of  '  the 
system  of  Europe '  undermined,  when  Austria  and  France 

^  (Euvres,  Iv,  pp.  256-80,  especially  257-66  ;  Vaughan,  1,  pp.  365-87, 
especially  365-74. 

2224  Q 


194     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

were  joined  in  alliance,  and  were  allies  against  Prussia.  The 
first  Partition  of  Poland  was  the  dying  testament  of  the  old 
Europe,  and  from  Corsica,  the  cherished  island  of  Rousseau's 
expectations  of  right  established  in  a  State,  there  came  the  great 
disturber  of  the  peace,  the  rights,  and  the  equilibrium  of  the 
States  of  Europe,  and  the  destroyer  of  the  Germanic  body. 
Both  Rousseau  and  the  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  might  well  seem 
to  have  been  the  dreamers  of  an  empty  dream — empty  but  for 
the  heaviness  of  the  consequences  of  a  slothful  overtrust  for  their 
fellow-men. 

To  expect  men  and  nations  to  conform  their  actions  to 
reason  may  be  the  utmost  irrationality.  Everything,  however, 
that  can  be  urged  for  the  establishment  of  a  League  of  Nations 
to  prevent  aggression,  the  domination  of  force,  and  injustice, 
has  been  said  in  principle,  and  even  in  much  of  the  particulars, 
by  Rousseau.  He  was  endeavouring  to  ally  reason  and  interest. 
He  recognizes  that  life  for  a  society  is  adjustment  and  harmony 
of  organism  and  environment.  It  is  his  fault,  as  it  is  that  of 
his  imitators  and  inferiors,  that  he  does  not  adequately  analyse, 
nor  adequately  allow  for,  the  influence  of  the  environment, 
and  that  of  the  past  in  the  present.  His  error  was  much  less 
a  deficiency  of  knowledge  than  an  excess  of  faith.  We  cannot 
perfectly  agree  to  everything  that  was  related  by  Raphael  ; 
yet  there  are  things  in  the  commonwealth  of  Utopia  that 
we  rather  wish  than  to-day  can  hope  to  see  followed  in  our 
government.  But  the  call  for  a  high  courage  is  more  required 
than  the  call  to  a  form  of  prudence  and  caution  that  abandons 
hope  and  may  never  drive  business  home.  A  high  courage 
that  dispenses  with  exact  and  intimate  knowledge  and  regard 
for  facts  will  be  futile  and  dangerous.  But  high  courage 
inspired  by  knowledge  and  sustained  by  circumspection  is 
required  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  multitude  of  men 
who  are  '  prudent '  because  they  are  timid,  who,  without 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  195 

either  subtlety  of  intellect  or  nobility  of  mind,  acquire  a  vulgar 
reputation  for  sagacity,  whereas  they  are  neither  wise  nor 
efficient. 

'  A  proposal  of  this  sort  is  one  of  those  things  that  can  never 
come  too  early  nor  too  late,'  said  Bentham  when  he  was 
introducing  his  'Plan  for  an  Universal  and  Perpetual  Peace '.^ 

If  a  citizen  of  the  world,  he  asked,  had  to  prepare  a  universal 
international  code,  what  would  he  assign  to  himself  as  his 
object  ?  It  would  be  the  common  and  equal  utility  of  all 
nations.2  '  War  is  mischief  upon  the  greatest  scale.'  ^  Among 
the  causes  or  occasions  of  war  have  been  '  enterprizes  of  con- 
quest '  :  means  of  prevention  are  confederations  of  defence, 
defensive  alliances,  and  general  guarantees.  Attempts  at 
monopoly  in  commerce,  insolence  of  the  strong  toward  the 
weak,  and  tyranny  of  one  nation  toward  another,  have  been 
the  causes  or  occasions  of  war  :  means  of  prevention  are 
confederations  defensive,  and  conventions  limiting  the  number 
of  troops  to  be  maintained.  No  one,  he  asserts,  could  regard 
treaties  implying  positive  obligations  of  this  kind  as  merely 
chimerical ;   still  less  are  those  implying  negative  obligation. 

'  There  may  arise  difficulty  in  maintaining  an  army ;  there 
can  arise  none  in  not  doing  so.  It  must  be  allowed  that  the 
matter  would  be  a  delicate  one  :  there  might  be  some  diffi- 
culty in  persuading  one  lion  to  cut  his  claws ;  but  if  the  lion, 
or  rather  the  enormous  condor  which  holds  him  fast  by  the 
head,  should  agree  to  cut  his  talons  also,  there  would  be  no 
disgrace  in  the  stipulation  :  the  advantage  or  inconvenience 
would  be  reciprocal.  Let  the  cost  of  the  attempt  be  what  it 
would,  it  would  be  amply  repaid  by  success.    What  tranquillity 

^  Essay  iv  of  his  '  Principles  of  International  Law ',  written  between 
1786  and  1789,  Works  (1843),  "»  PP-  535~6o. 

-  Essay  i,  '  Objects  of  International  Law  ',  Works,  ii,  p.  537. 

'  Essay  III,*  Of  War,  considered  in  respectof  its  causes  and  consequences  *, 
Works, ")  P-  544- 

O  2 


196     The  Literattire  of  International  Relations 

for  all  sovereigns ! — what  relief  for  all  people  !  What  a  spring 
would  not  the  commerce,  the  population,  the  wealth  of  all 
nations  take,  which  are  at  present  confined,  when  set  free 
from  the  fetters  in  which  they  are  now  held  by  the  care  of 
their  defence.'  * 

In  the  case  of  bona  fide  wars  a  remedy  must  be  sought  in 
*  The  Tribunal  of  Peace  '.  Bentham's  Plan  rested  upon  two 
'  fundamental  propositions '.  One  is  the  reduction  and  fixing 
of  the  force  of  the  several  nations  composing  the  European 
system.  The  other  is  suggested  by  the  wars  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  especially  between  Britain  and  France,  and  is  a  com- 
mentary upon  them  :  it  is  '  the  emancipation  of  the  distant 
dependencies  of  each  state  ' — drastic  counsel  which  its  author 
did  not  confine  to  his  Plan  for  Perpetual  Peace.  The  objection, 
and  the  only  objection,  to  the  plan  of  a  peace  that  shall  be 
universal  and  lasting  is  its  apparent  impracticability — ^that  it 
is  not  only  hopeless,  but  hopeless  to  such  a  degree  that  any 
proposal  to  this  effect  deserves  to  be  called  '  visionary  and 
ridiculous  '.  It  is  said  that  the  age  is  not  ripe  for  such  a  pro- 
posal. Then,  '  the  more  it  wants  of  being  ripe,  the  sooner  we 
should  begin  to  do  what  can  be  done  to  ripen  it '.  Who  that 
bears  the  name  of  Christian  could  refuse  to  assist  with  his 
prayers  ?  What  pulpit  could  refrain  from  seconding  the  author 
with  its  eloquence  ?  '  Catholics  and  Protestants,  Church-of- 
England-men  and  Dissenters,  may  all  agree  in  this,  if  in  nothing 
else.  I  call  upon  them  all  to  aid  me  with  their  countenance 
and  their  support.' 

There  are  parts  of  Bentham's  Plan  that  are  avowedly  related 
to  the  rivalry  of  Britain  and  France  in  trade,  in  colonies  and 
in  sea-power ;  and  he  believed  that  a  solid  and  thorough 
agreement  between  these  two  States  would  remove  the  principal 
obstacles  to  a  plan  of  general  and  permanent  pacification  for 

*  Essay  iii,  Works,  ii,  pp.  544-$. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  197 

Europe.^  For  the  maintenance  of  such  a  pacification  general 
and  perpetual  treaties  might  be  formed,  limiting  the  number 
of  troops  to  be  maintained.  Further,  '  the  maintenance  of 
such  a  pacification  might  be  considerably  facilitated  by  the 
establishment  of  a  common  court  of  judicature,  for  the  decision 
of  differences  between  the  several  nations,  although  such 
court  were  not  to  be  armed  with  any  coercive  powers '.  '  It 
is  an  observation  of  somebody's,'  says  Bentham,  '  that  no 
nation  ought  to  yield  any  evident  point  of  justice  to  another. 
This  must  mean,  evident  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation  that  is  to 
judge,  evident  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation  called  upon  to  yield. 
What  does  this  amount  to  ?  That  no  nation  is  to  give  up 
anything  of  what  it  looks  upon  as  its  rights — ^no  nation  is  to 
make  any  concessions.  Wherever  there  is  any  difference  of 
opinion  between  the  negotiators  of  two  nations,  war  is  to  be 
the  consequence.  While  there  is  no  common  tribunal,  some- 
thing might  be  said  for  this.  Concession  to  notorious  injustice 
invites  fresh  injustice.  Establish  a  common  tribunal,  the 
necessity  for  war  no  longer  follows  from  difference  of  opinion. 
Just  or  unjust,  the  decision  of  the  arbiters  will  save  the  credit, 
the  honour  of  the  contending  party.'  Can  the  arrangement 
proposed,  he  asks,  justly  be  called  visionary,  when  it  can  be 
established  regarding  it,  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  parties 
concerned  ;  that  they  are  themselves  sensible  of  that  interest ; 
and  that  the  situation  it  would  place  them  in  is  not  a  new  one, 
but  merely  that  from  which  they  set  out  ?  Give  up  colonies ; 
found  no  new  ones  :  this  will  be  to  the  interest  both  of  the 
mother-country  and  of  the  colonies,  and  it  will  save  the 
danger  of  war.  Do  not  seek  to  encourage  particular  branches 
of  trade  by  prohibiting  rival  manufactures,  by  taxing  rival 
manufactures,  or  by  means  of  bounties  on  the  trade  meant  to 
be  favoured.  Do  not  enter  into  wars  for  compelling  treaties 
^  See  Propositions  iii-v  and  xi-xii,  fForks,  ii,  p.  550. 


198     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

granting  commercial  preferences  :  do  not  even  make  alliances 
for  the  sake  of  purchasing  such  preferences,  nor  enter  into  any 
treaties  for  ensuring  them.  Such  preferences  arc  useless  : 
*  they  add  nothing  to  the  mass  of  wealth  ;  they  only  influence 
the  direction  of  it ', 

*  Mark  well  the  contrast.  All  trade  is  in  its  essence 
advantageous — even  to  that  party  to  whom  it  is  least  so.  All 
war  is  in  its  essence  ruinous ;  and  yet  the  great  employments 
of  government  are  to  treasure  up  occasions  of  war,  and  to  put 
fetters  upon  trade.' 

Therefore  it  is  necessary  to  begin  by  trying  to  remove  the 
causes  of  war.  It  is  necessary  to  narrow  the  sphere  of  operation 
of  jealousy — the  vice  of  the  narrow  mind,  and  to  expand  that 
of  confidence — ^the  virtue  of  the  enlarged  mind.  '  Clandestinity 
and  secrecy '  in  negotiation  are  unnecessary  and  mischievous.^ 
Establish  conditions  as  favourable  as  possible  in  regard  to 
interest  and  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  between  nations,  and 
thus  prepare  the  ground  and  the  atmosphere  appropriate  to 
an  international  tribunal  that  is  to  be  The  Tribunal  of 
Peace.  Even  then  force  may  have  to  be  used.  '  There  might, 
perhaps,  be  no  harm  in  regulating,  as  a  last  resource,  the  con- 
tingent to  be  furnished  by  the  several  states  for  enforcing  the 
decrees  of  the  court ',  for  the  court  will  have  power  to  put  the 
refractory  State,  after  a  certain  time,  under  the  ban  of  Europe. 

Bentham  made  the  practical  inception  of  his  Plan  depend 
upon  the  maintenance  and  permanence  of  friendly  relations 
between  Britain  and  France ;  and  already  the  younger  Pitt 
had   repudiated,   both  in   words  and   by  deeds,   the   rooted 

^  'I  lay  down  two  propositions:  i.  That  in  no  negociation,  and  at 
no  period  of  any  negociation,  ought  the  negociations  of  the  cabinet  in  this 
country  to  be  kept  secret  from  the  public  at  large  ;  much  less  from  parlia- 
ment and  after  inquiry  made  in  parliament.  2.  That  whatever  may  be 
the  case  with  preliminary  negociations,  such  secrecy  ought  never  to  be 
maintained  with  regard  to  treaties  actually  concluded.'    Works,  ii,  p.  554. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  199 

conception  of  Chatham,  as  well  as  of  the  ordinary  Englishman, 
that  the  two  countries  were  '  natural  enemies ' — enemies  by 
inheritance  and  by  the  inevitable  force  of  events  and  circum- 
stance. But  by  an  irony  the  Plan  was  projected  almost  on 
the  eve  of  the  French  Revolution.  It  would  be  doing  wrong 
to  Bentham  to  say  that  this  world-shaking  event  disturbed  and 
distorted  his  sense  of  values.  But  it  made  him  most  anxious 
and  resolute  that  his  own  understanding  of  values  should  not 
be  misunderstood  and  perverted  by  others.  '  Is ',  '  has  been  *, 
'  ought  to  be  ',  '  shall  be  ',  '  can  '  :  all,  he  exclaimed,  are  put 
for  one  another  ;  all  are  pressed  into  the  same  service,  made  to 
answer  the  same  purpose.  By  this  '  inebriating  compound  * 
the  elements  of  men's  understanding  had  been  put  in  confusion, 
every  fibre  of  the  heart  had  been  inflamed,  the  lips  had  been 
prepared  for  every  folly,  the  hand  for  every  crime.  '  From 
imaginary  laws,  from  laws  of  nature,  fancied  and  invented  by 
poets,  rhetoricians,  and  dealers  in  moral  and  intellectual 
poisons,  come  imaginary  rights,  a  bastard  brood  of  monsters, 
"  gorgons  and  chimaeras  dire  ".'  The  '  anarchist '  may  be 
known  by  the  language  which  he  uses.  '  He  will  be  found 
asserting  rights,  and  acknowledging  them  at  the  same  time 
not  to  be  recognized  by  government',  using  instead  of  ^ ought 
and  ought  not,  the  words  is  or  is  not — can  or  can  not.  In 
former  times,  in  the  times  of  Grotius  and  Puffendorf,  these 
expressions  were  little  more  than  improprieties  in  language, 
prejudicial  to  the  growth  of  knowledge  ;  at  present,  since  the 
French  Declaration  of  Rights  has  adopted  them,  and  the 
French  Revolution  displayed  their  import  by  a  practical 
comment,  the  use  of  them  is  already  a  moral  crime,  and  not 
undeserving  of  being  constituted  a  legal  crime,  as  hostile  to 
the   public   peace  '.^     Bentham   grossly  misapprehended    the 

^  'Anarchical   Fallacies',   towards    the   end.      In    tliis   work   Bentham 
examined  the  Declarations  of  Rights  issued  during  the  French  Revolution. 


200     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

meaning  and  force  of  Natural  Right  in  the  history  of  reasoning 
on  pohtics.  It  was  in  keeping  with  the  tenor  of  his  own  scheme 
of  political  thought  that  he  should  base  his  Plan  of  Perpetual 
Peace  upon  grounds  of  general  utility,  and  should  press  its 
acceptance  on  the  ground  that  it  was  in  accord  with  the 
common  sense  of  men  regardful  of  their  common  interest. 

Of  Kant  it  has  been  said  that  in  the  department  of  Politics 
he  did  away  with  the  narrowness  that  threatened  it,  and  entered 
with  his  deep  priestlike  thought  into  the  great  spirit  of  history 
and  the  progress  of  the  liberty  of  peoples.^ 

Kant's  contribution  to  the  cause  of  Perpetual  Peace  is 
measured  not  merely  by  his  essay  bearing  that  title  but  by 
essential  parts  of  other  works  written  by  him  on  the  Philosophy 
of  Right  and  Politics.  In  the  essay  on  Perpetual  Peace  the 
conclusions  are  more  conspicuous  than  the  reasoning  ;  the 
articles  are  definite  with  a  degree  of  sharpness  that  the  prelimi- 
nary conditions  to  be  fulfilled  do  not  warrant.  In  the  case  of 
Kant  as  in  the  case  of  Rousseau,  the  emphasis  has  been  unduly 
laid  on  conclusions  by  those  who  cite  him  in  their  advocacy  of 
a  League  of  Nations  and  Perpetual  Peace  :  too  little  heed  has' 
been  given  to  the  conditions  that  must,  he  said,  first  be  satisfied. 
How  the  project  is  related  as  an  ideal  to  facts  and  to  the  past 
in  the  present  is  best  shown  by  Kant  in  his  Theory  of  Right.^ 
One  of  the  short  sections  *  of  that  work  and  the  few  concluding 
sentences  express  more  clearly  and  in  truer  proportion  than  the 
earlier  essay,  Perpetual  Peace^  the  judgement  of  Kant  on  the 
lasting  establishment  of  Peace.  If  we  take  these  together  and 
combine  them  with  his  teaching  in  other  essays  on  principles 
of  Politics  and  the  relation  of  theory  to  practice  in  Politics, 
we  shall  be  able  to  see  the  character  of  Kant's  contribution  to 
the  study  of  this  subject,  the  place  which  he  holds  in  its 

'  Rosenkranz,  one  of  the  editors  of  Kant's  Works. 

*  Recbtslebre,  1796-7.  '  §  61  of  Part  11,  treating  of  Public  Right. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  201 

history,  and,  in  particular,  his  strikingly  close  connexion  with 
Rousseau. 

The  essay  '  Perpetual  Peace  ' — Zum  ewigen  Frieden — was 
published  in  1795 — ^the  year  of  the  Treaty  of  Basel.  By  that 
treaty  Prussia  finished  her  first  war  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Only  a  visionary  could  have  seen  in  the  Treaty  of  Basel  the 
star  of  hope  in  the  sky.  The  treaty  was  a  link  in  a  chain  that 
discredited  Prussia  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  ;  and  to  the  historian 
of  international  relations  the  treaty  is  noteworthy,  inasmuch 
as  it  involved  a  surrender  by  Frederick  William  III  of  the 
system  of  the  Empire  and  the  system  of  Europe. 

The  highest  of  all  practical  problems  for  the  human  race, 
Kant  declared,  is  the  establishment  of  a  Civil  Society  univers- 
ally administering  right  according  to  law.^  How  can  we 
institute  and  establish  a  Society  in  which  liberty,  under  external 
laws,  is  combined  in  the  greatest  possible  measure  wdth  irre- 
sistible power  ?  It  is  the  most  difficult  of  problems  :  its 
perfect  solution  is  not  to  be  looked  for,  so  crooked  is  the  wood 
out  of  which  men  are  carved.  It  will  be  the  latest  to  find 
a  practical  solution,  for  the  pre-requisites  are  of  an  exacting 
character — correct  appreciation  of  the  nature  of  a  possible 
constitution  ;  vast  experience  drawn  from  the  practice  of  the 
ages,  and  especially  a  good  will  favourably  disposed  towards 
the  reception  of  the  solution.^  These  are  conditions  that  will 
not  be  easily  satisfied  in  combination,  and  if  they  are  satisfied 
at  all  it  will  be  late  in  the  course  of  time  and  after  many  attempts 
have  been  made  in  vain  to  solve  the  problem — ^that  of  estab- 
lishing a  true  Civil  Society.  We  have  to  reckon  with  the 
'  unsocial  sociability '  of    men.     Their  disposition   to  enter 

^  '  The  Natural  Principle  of  the  Political  Order ',  Fifth  Proposition. 

2  This  third  prc-requisite — the  right  moment  and  the  right  mind — is 
emphasized  as  strongly  by  Rousseau  as  by  Kant,  who  gives  clear  evidence 
of  being  influenced  here  and  at  other  vital  points  of  his  Politics  by  Rousseau. 


202     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

into  society  is  combined  with  a  tendency  to  remain  individuals, 
to  resist  the  obhgations  of  civil  society,  and  thus  to  threaten  its 
dissolution.  Society  must  be  made  a  moral  and  rational  whole. 
When  an  action  is  in  agreement  with  juridical  laws,  we  say 
that  it  has  legality  :  when  an  action  is  in  agreement  with 
ethical  laws,  we  say  that  it  has  morality.  The  coercion  of  law 
has  its  justification  in  the  reason  underlying  the  law.  A  perfect 
civil  constitution  cannot  be  established,  unless  the  external 
relations  between  States  are  regulated  according  to  law,  with 
reason  supporting  the  law.  An  advance  has  to  be  made  from 
the  lawless  condition  of  savages  :  the  Federation  of  Peoples 
has  to  be  prepared  for  and  entered  upon.  *  Every  State,  even 
the  smallest,  may  thus  rely  for  its  safety  and  its  rights  not  on 
its  own  power,  nor  on  its  own  judgement  of  right,  but  only 
on  this  Foedus  Amphictionum — on  the  combined  power  of  this 
League  of  States,  and  on  the  decision  of  the  common  will 
according  to  laws.'  This,  said  Kant,  may  seem  to  be  very 
visionary  ;  and  the  idea  has  been  ridiculed  in  the  way  in  which 
it  has  been  put  forward  by  an  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  or  a 
Rousseau.  But  it  is  the  inevitable  issue  of  the  necessity  in 
which  men  are  tied  to  each  other.  Wars  should  subserve — 
should,  in  their  results,  be  made  to  subserve — this  end.  Wars 
(when  we  think  of  the  purpose  of  Nature)  are  attempts  to  bring 
about  new  relations  between  peoples  ;  through  destruction 
or  dismemberment  they  institute  new  political  corporations. 
Out  of  all  the  actions  and  reactions  of  men  is  nothing  rational 
to  result  ?  Is  it  to  be  said,  and  is  it  to  be  incontrovertible,  that 
discord  is  natural  to  our  species,  and  that,  in  spite  of  the  presence 
of  many  marks  of  a  civilized  society,  all  is  but  a  preparation 
for  a  '  hell  of  evils '  at  the  end  ?  Cultivated  we  have  become, 
and  to  a  high  degree,  in  the  sciences  and  arts.  We  are  civiUzed, 
even  to  excess,  in  all  that  pertains  to  forms  of  politeness  and 
social  elegance.    But  much  remains  to  be  done  before  it  caa 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  203 

be  said  that  we  have  been  moraHzed.  Schemes  of  external 
aggrandizement  are  evidence  of  this  imperfect  condition.  It 
is  clear,  therefore,  that  the  perfecting  of  international  relation- 
ship must  be  preceded  in  States  by  a  process,  and  perhaps  a  long 
process,  of  internal  improvement,  for,  without  the  appropriate 
disposition — ^the  morally  good  disposition — on  the  part  of  the 
several  commonwealths  and  their  members,  there  cannot  be 
a  true  and  lasting  League  of  Nations ;  there  will  be  mere 
illusion  and  glittering  misery. 

When  we  are  thinking  of  the  end  that  should  be,  and  is,  set 
before  humanity,  right  must  not  be  conceived  in  compromises. 
We  must  not  break  right  in  halves,  or  place  it  somewhere 
between  justice  and  utility.  Nor  should  we  permit  ourselves 
to  be  deflected  in  our  thought,  and  from  our  purpose,  by  the 
emphasis  which  the  historian  puts,  almost  exclusively,  upon 
results  and  by  the  historian's  definition — not  merely  his 
interpretation — of  facts  in  the  life  of  men  in  society.  The 
*  result '  usually  becomes  mixed  up  with  principles  of  right. 
The  result  is  uncertain  :  what  the  historian  takes  to  be  the 
result  may  not  be  the  conclusive  event.  But,  whereas  the  result, 
in  the  historian's  sense,  is  uncertain,  principles  of  right  are 
always  certain  in  themselves. 

Little  reflection  is  needed  to  see  that  a  lasting  universal 
Peace  on  the  basis  of  the  Balance  of  Power  is  a  mere  chimera. 
It  would  be  like  the  house  described  by  Swift,  which  the 
architect  constructed  so  perfectly  in  conformity  with  the 
laws  of  equilibrium  that  when  a  sparrow  lighted  on  the  house 
it  at  once  fell.  No  :  the  only  remedy  against  so  great  evils 
is  a  system  of  International  Right,  founded  upon  public 
laws,  and  secured  by  power  to  enforce  them,  power  to  which 
every  State  must  submit  just  as  the  several  members  of 
a  State  submit  to  the  order  of  civil  and  political  right 
established.     '  Every  people,  for  the  sake  of  its  own  security, 


204     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

may  and  ought  to  demand  from  any  other  people  that  it  shall 
join  in  entering  into  a  constitution,  similar  to  the  civil  con- 
stitution, in  which  the  right  of  each  shall  be  secured.  Thus 
would  arise  a  League  of  Nations.' ' 

What  should  be  the  Articles  of  a  Perpetual  Peace  between 
States  ? 

I.    Preliminary  Articles : 

(i)  No  conclusion  of  Peace  shall  be  valid  when  it  has  been 
made  with  the  secret  reservation  of  the  means  for  a  future  war. 

(2)  No  State  shall  be  merged  by  inheritance,  exchange,  gift 
or  sale  in  another  State. 

(3)  Standing  armies  shall,  in  the  course  of  time,  be  entirely 
abolished. 

(4)  No  National  Debts  shall  be  contracted  in  the  pursuit 
of  the  external  interests  of  the  State. 

(5)  No  State  shall  interfere  by  force  with  the  system  of 
government  of  another  State. 

(6)  No  State  at  war  with  another  State  shall  use  such 
methods  of  warfare  as  would  render  mutual  confidence  impos- 
sible in  a  future  Peace. 

II.    The  Definitive  Articles  : 

(i)  The  Civil  Constitution  in  every  State  shall  be  republican.* 

(2)  International  Right  shall  be  founded  on  a  Federation 
of  Free  States. 

(3)  There  shall  be  world-citizenship,  in  the  sense  that  men, 

*  '  Perpetual  Peace  ',  second  definitive  article. 

*  By  a  '  republican  '  constitution  Kant  means  one  that  observes  the 
three  following  principles  :  the  liberty  of  the  members  of  a  Society  as 
men  ;  the  dependence  of  all  its  members  on  legislation  common  to  all  as 
subjects  ;  and  the  legal  equality  of  its  members  as  citizens.  No.  xlviii 
of  Tbe  Federalist  has  some  acute  remarks  on  '  a  representative  republic  ' 
and  its  distinction  from  '  a  democracy  '. 


Projects  of  PerpeUtal  Peace  2Q5 

in  the  cosmo-political  system,  shall  have  free  access  to  any 
State  of  the  world,  and  a  title  to  reside  therein. 

The  main  force  of  the  contribution  made  by  Kant  to  the 
study  and  history  of  this  subject  was  compressed  by  him  into 
a  few  words  towards  the  close  of  his  Rechtslehre^  which  was 
published  about  two  years  after  his  essay  on  Perpetual  Peace. 

The  natural  condition  of  nations  as  of  individuals,  he  says,^ 
is  a  condition  that  it  behoves  us  to  pass  out  of  in  order  to  enter 
into  a  condition  founded  on  law.  Before  such  transition,  all 
the  Right  of  Nations  and  all  the  external  property  of  States 
that  can  be  acquired  or  maintained  by  war  are  provisory  merely; 
it  is  only  in  a  Universal  Union  of  States  analogous  to  that  by 
which  a  nation  becomes  a  State  ^  that  they  become  peremp- 
tory. In  no  other  way  can  a  real  condition  of  Peace  be  estab- 
lished. But  there  may  be  a  too  great  extension  of  such  a  Union 
of  States.  The  extension  may  include  such  vast  and  dissimilar 
territories  that  any  real  government  of  the  Union,  and  any 
genuine  protection  of  its  individual  members,  will  become 
impossible  ;  we  should  be  brought  round  again  to  a  condition 
of  war.  '  Hence  it  is  that  the  Perpetual  Peace,  which  is  the 
ultimate  end  of  all  the  Right  of  Nations,  becomes  an  impracti- 
cable idea.'  But  we  must  not  therefore  withdraw  our  allegiance 
and  support  from  the  political  principles  which  have  this  end 
as  their  aim.    These  principles  call  upon  us  to  aid  the  formation 

^  Rechtslehre,  ii,  §  6i. 

^  Men  and  nations,  owing  to  their  mutual  influence  on  each  other,  require 
a  juridical  constitution  uniting  them  under  one  will,  so  that  they  may 
participate  in  what  is  right.  This  relation  of  the  members  of  a  nation  to 
each  other  constitutes  the  civil  union  in  the  social  state  ;  and  when  viewed 
as  a  whole  as  affecting  its  constituent  members  it  forms  the  State.  When 
we  are  thinking  of  '  the  supposed  hereditary  unity  '  of  the  people  we  speak 
of  '  nation  *  rather  than  State ;  when  we  are  thinking  of  the  common 
interest  pertaining  to  all  to  live  in  a  juridical  union,  we  speak  of  '  State ' 
or  '  Commonwealth  '.    Ibid.^  ii,  §  43. 


2o6     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

of  such  unions  among  States  as  may  promote  a  continuous 
approximation  to  a  Perpetual  Peace  ;  and  these  principles  are 
not  to  be  dismissed  as  being  impracticable,  for  the  problem 
of  approximation  is  itself  a  problem  that  both  involves  a  duty 
and  tests  good  judgement. 

Such  a  Union  of  States,  with  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of 
Peace,  may  be  called  a  General  Congress  of  Nations.  It  is 
intended  to  be  permanent.  But  the  Congress  is  a  voluntary 
combination  of  States.  It  would  be  dissoluble  ;  its  duration 
would  depend  upon  the  sovereign  wills  of  the  several  members 
of  the  League.  It  would  not  be  such  a  union  as  is  embodied 
in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America  ;  it  would 
not  be  an  indissoluble  union.^  It  is  only  by  means  of  a  Congress 
of  this  kind  that  the  idea  of  a  Public  Right  among  Nations 
can  become  real ;  only  by  such  means  can  their  differences 
be  settled  by  civil  process,  instead  of  by  the  barbarous  means 
of  war. 

Perpetual  Peace  may  not  be  realized.  But  that  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  work  towards  its  realization  ;  and  towards 
that  end  we  should  work  to  establish  that  constitution  which 

*  This  appreciation  by  Kant  of  the  nature  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  is  noteworthy  owing  to  the  time  at  which  it  was  written. 
'  If,  in  a  word,  the  Union  be  essential  to  the  happiness  of  the  people  of 
America,'  said  Madison  in  No.  xlv  of  The  Federalist,  '  is  it  not  preposterous, 
to  urge  as  an  objection  to  a  government,  without  which  the  objects  of  the 
Union  cannot  be  attained,  that  such  a  government  may  derogate  from 
the  importance  of  the  governments  of  the  individual  States  ?  '  In  the 
course  of  a  well-informed  and  able  estimate  of  the  influence  of  Chief-Justice 
Marshall  on  constitutional  development  in  the  United  States,  it  has  been 
said  that  a  single  phrase  in  one  of  his  latest  decisions  struck  the  key-note 
of  all,  when  he  spoke  of  the  exercise  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme 
Court  as  '  indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  consequently 
oj  the  independence  and  liberty  oj  these  States  '. — Constitutional  History  oj  the 
United  Stales  as  seen  in  the  Development  of  American  Imw^  by  Judge  T.  M. 
Cooley  and  others  (1889),  p.  III. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  207 

seems  most  fitted  to  achieve  the  end.  It  may  even  be  said  that 
the  universal  and  lasting  establishment  of  Peace  constitutes 
not  a  part  only,  but  the  whole  final  purpose  and  end,  of  the 
Science  of  Right  as  viewed  within  the  limits  of  Reason.  But 
there  is  need  of  caution  as  to  the  time  and  the  means  of  action. 
We  must  take  care  lest  by  proceeding  precipitately  and  in 
a  revolutionary  manner  we  destroy  the  existing  defective 
constitution  at  the  incalculable  cost  of  annihilating,  for  some 
indefinite  time,  the  whole  foundation  of  law  on  which  Society 
rests.  But  if  we  proceed  by  gradual  reform,  and  are  guided 
by  certain  clear  and  fixed  principles,  we  may  lead  by  continuous 
approximation  to  the  highest  political  good  :  we  may  be  led 
to  Perpetual  Peace.^ 

The  teaching  of  Rousseau  and  the  teaching  of  Kant,  partly 
inspired  by  Rousseau,  on  this  subject  are  in  agreement  in  the 
essentials.  One  of  the  subtlest  of  intellects  and  one  of  the 
strongest  agree  that  there  can  be  no  lasting  security  for  right 
among  nations,  and  no  hope  of  Perpetual  Peace,  unless  a  supra- 
national disposition  can  be  engendered  and  fostered  that  shall 
prevail  over  national  inherited  sentiment.  This  inherited 
sentiment  is  in  itself  good  ;  without  it  there  cannot  be  a  nation. 
But  this  national  sense  of  right  and  interest  must  be  brought 
to  subserve  an  international  right  and  to  contribute  to  the 
interest  of  all.  There  must  be  a  League  of  Nations,  and  in 
that  Federation  the  smaller  States  must  be  given  adequate 
and,  it  may  be,  generous  representation.  The  guardianship 
of  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  smaller  States  must  be  a 
cherished  function  of  such  a  League  ;  the  touchstone  of  its 
success  will,  to  no  small  extent,  be  found  in  how  it  discharges 
that  function.  In  its  very  nature  sucha  League  is  supra-national; 
especially  in  the  motive  of  its  origin  it  is  supra-national.  The 
nations  are  in  the  League  less  as  nations  than  as  members  of 
^  §  61  and  the  conclusion  of  Rechtslebre. 


2o8     The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

the  League,  and  for  its  ends.  Further,  there  is  need  of  a  supra- 
national force,  need  of  a  *  sanction  '  that  is  supra-national. 
A  supra-national  disposition,  a  supra-national  League,  and 
a  supra-national  force  :  these  are  all  essential.  But  the  most 
essential  of  these  is  the  supra-national  disposition.  Without 
this  there  can  be  no  true  League.  Without  it  force  will  be 
used  neither  in  the  right  way  nor  for  the  right  end.  With  the 
supra-national  disposition  fully  and  freely  working  there  would 
be  no  need  of  force  ;  the  indwelling  energy  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Federation  would  make  the  use  of  force  unnecessary.  Yet  the 
necessary  means  of  using  force  for  right  would  always  be  in 
reserve  and  always  available  against  wrong  threatened  and 
a  wrong  done. 

The  whole  question  of  the  relation  between  Politics  and 
Ethics  is  involved  in  this  inquiry ;  and  that  has  been  an 
interminable  theme  for  writers,  and  for  such  especially  among 
them  as  treat  of  principles  apart  from  the  conditions  that  must 
shape  policy,  and  discuss  ends  without  making  any  due  allow- 
ance for  the  imperfection  of  the  instruments.  The  conclusions 
of  two  recent  English  writers  may  here  be  cited. 

'  Just  so  far  as  States  are  thoroughly  formed,'  said  T.  H. 
Green,^  '  the  diversion  of  patriotism  into  the  military  element 
tends  to  come  to  an  end.'  Will,  not  Force,  is  the  true  basis 
of  the  State.  This  diversion  of  patriotism  into  the  military 
element  is  'a  survival  from  a  condition  of  things  in  which,  as 
yet,  the  State,  in  the  full  sense,  was  not  ;  in  the  sense,  namely, 
that  in  each  territory  controlled  by  a  single  independent 
government,  the  rights  of  all  persons,  as  founded  on  their 
capacities  for  contributing  to  a  common  good,  are  equally 

*  Lectures  on  the  Principles  oj  Political  Obligation  (1895),  pp.  xxiv  + 
252,  reprinted  from  his  Philosophical  Works,  vol.  ii.  See  the  whole  of  the 
chapter  entitled  '  The  Right  of  the  State  over  the  Individual  in  War  ', 
The  lectures  were  delivered  during  1879-80. 


Projects  of  Perpetual  Peace  209 

established  by  one  system  of  law.'  ^  It  is  this  capacity  of 
contributing  to  a  common  good  that  tests  the  development 
of  the  relations  between  States.  According  as  the  organization 
of  these  relations  becomes  more  nearly  complete, '  the  more  the 
motives  and  occasions  of  international  conflict  tend  to  dis- 
appear, while  the  bonds  of  unity  become  stronger  '.  ^ 

The  place  of  International  Law,  said  Henry  Sidgwick,  is 
intermediate  between  Positive  Law  and  Positive  Morality, 
and  parts  of  it  '  have  reached  a  degree  of  definiteness  that 
makes  it  resemble  the  former  more  than  the  latter.  But  this 
is  not  the  case  vdth  the  most  important  rules  of  international 
duty  '.^  International  duty  is  not  to  be  determined  on  the 
basis  of  exclusive  regard  for  '  national  interest  ',  and  where  the 
two  conflict  the  former  must  be  held  paramount.  Generally, 
however,  'though  not  always',  it  is  the  interest  of  a  State  '  to 
observe  the  recognised  rules  of  international  duty,  so  long  as 
it  has  a  reasonable  expectation  that  they  will  be  observed  by 
other  States.  It  is  a  more  doubtful  question  whether  a  State 
ought  to  risk  war  to  prevent  high-handed  aggression  by  another 
State  against  a  third.'  * 

If  we  examine  the  lawfulness  of  war  by  right  reason,  said 
Grotius,  and  by  the  nature  of  human  society,  which  is  the 
second  and  most  nearly  perfect  rule  to  judge  by,  we  shall  plainly 
perceive  that  it  is  not  all  manner  of  force  that  is  thereby 
forbidden,  but  that  only  which  is  repugnant  to  human  society — 
that,  namely,  which  invades  the  right  of  another.^ 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  175-6.  See  p.  177  for  the  influences  which  combined  to  turn 
Europe  into  an  armed  camp. 

2  pp.  177-8. 

^  Sidgwick,  The  Elements  oj Politics,  1891,  2nd  ed.,  1897,  pp.  xxxiii  +  665 ; 
ch.  xvii  on  '  International  Law  and  Morality  ',  §  4.  See  also  ch.  xv,  '  Prin- 
ciples of  International  Duty  '  ;   ch.  xvi,  '  The  Regulation  of  War '. 

*  Ibid.,  ch.  xviii,  '  Principles  of  External  Policy  '. 

*  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pads,  bk.  i,  ch.  ii,  §  i. 
2224  p 


210    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

It  has  been  the  object  of  International  Lawyers  to  assist  in 
determining  the  nature  and  the  obligations  of  this  '  human 
society  '.  Since  its  foundation,  International  Law  has  assumed 
the  existence  of  a  great  community  of  peoples — '  the  Family  of 
Nations  ',  *  the  Society  of  Nations ',  to  which  rights  in  common 
pertain,  and  on  which  obligations  in  common  rest.  Keep 
faith,  and  aim  at  peace.^  These  are  the  two  lasting  injunctions 
of  him  whom  we  may  still  call '  Father  of  the  Law  of  Nations  '.^ 
The  end  of  war  is  peace.^    The  history  of  International  Law 

^  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pacts,  Preface  and  bk.  iii,  ch.  xxv,  §§  1-3,  7. 

*  In  the  introduction  to  the  first  volume  (p.  12)  of  the  Grotlus  Society 
(founded  191 5),  Professor  Goudy  says  of  the  De  lure  Belli  ac  Pacis,  'That 
great  work  must  ever  be  regarded  as  the  matrix  of  our  science,  and  must 
be  resorted  to  for  the  statement  of  fundamental  truths.'  '  International 
Law,  if  it  is  to  have  any  enduring  authority,  must  be  based  on  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  human  rights  and  must  give  effect  to  the  common 
welfare  of  nations.  All  assertions  of  right  arising  from  patriotism  or  "  my 
country  before  everything  "  (fiber  alles)  must  be  swept  aside  as  noxious 
hindrances  to  progress.  The  ideal  of  perpetual  peace  among  civilized 
nations  is  indeed  still  a  long  way  off — much  further  than  pacificists  too 
hastily  suppose — but  it  is  none  the  less  the  ideal  of  International  Law. 
It  is 

The  vision  whereunto 

Toils  the  Indomitable  world.' 

The  following  Papers  published  in  the  volumes  of  the  Grotlus  Society 
have  value  for  the  historical  student :  vol.  ii  (191 7),  *  The  Principles  under- 
lying the  Doctrine  of  Contraband  and  Blockade  ',  by  J.  E.  G.  Montmorency  ; 
'International  Leagues',  by  W.  R.  Bischopp  ;  vol.  ill  (191 8),  'Treaties 
of  Peace  '  (not  '  as  a  means  of  terminating  war ',  but  '  as  instruments  of 
peace  '),  by  Commander  Sir  Graham  Bower ;  vol.  iv  (191 9),  '  The  League 
of  Nations  ',  by  Lord  Parmoor  ;  '  The  Treaty-making  Power  of  the  Crown  ', 
by  Judge  Atherley  Jones  ;  '  Some  European  Leagues  of  Peace ',  by 
W.  Evans  Darby  ;  '  Divergences  between  British  and  other  Views  of 
International  Law ',  by  Georges  Kaechcnbeeck  ;  '  The  Freedom  of  the 
Scheldt  ',  by  Albert  Maeterlinck  and  by  W.  R.  Bischopp,  and  discussion. 

'  Grotlus,  op.  dt.,  $  2,  dtes  Aristotle,  Sallust,  St.  Augustine. 


The  Society  of  Nations  211 

records  the  progress  of  a  community  of  rights,  interests,  and 
obHgations  among  nations,  and  the  expansion  of  the  Family  of 
Nations.  History,  in  the  proportions  in  which  she  is  presented 
when  she  tells  of  the  relations  of  States,  has  had  more  to  say 
of  disappointment  and  failures  than  of  fulfilment  and  success, 
although  it  may  be  that  the  historian  has  given  too  little 
attention  to  the  question  propounded  by  Bishop  Berkeley  in 
the  Querist,  whether  nations  as  well  as  individuals  may  not 
sometimes  go  mad. 

All  who  are  in  the  line  of  true  succession  from  the  founders 
of  International  Law  have  built  upon  this  assumption  of 
a  Society  of  Nations.  The  assumption  has  been  necessary  to 
them  for  their  definitions  and  their  standards,  their  whole 
sense  of  values.  '  The  family  of  nations ',  we  read  in  a  well- 
known  text-book,^  '  is  an  aggregate  of  States  which,  as  the  result 
of  their  historical  antecedents,  have  inherited  a  common 
civilisation,  and  are  at  a  similar  level  of  moral  and  political 
opinion.'  ^  Outside  of  the  Family  no  State  can  be  regarded 
as  a  '  normal  international  person  '. 

If  the  assumption  of  a  genuine  Society  of  Nations  were  wholly 
valid,  there  would  be  little  need  to  supplement  it  by  instituting 
a  formal  League,  which  in  time,  if  not  in  its  origin,  might  be 
too  mechanically  governmental.  Yet  this  assumption,  almost 
complete  in  its  range  and  character,  has  given  to  International 
Lawyers  the  ground  for  their  hopes.  '  It  is  a  bright  feature 
of  modern  civilisation ',  wrote  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  them  in  recent  years,  '  that  the  Governments  of  Europe 
allow  in  their  intercourse  with  one  another  considerable  weight 
to  a  rule  of  Right  as  controlling  the  dictates  of  ambition  or 
of  interest,  and  that  their  respect  for  such  Right  commends 

^  T.  E.  Holland,  The  Elements  oj  Jurisprudence,  first  ed.,  1880, 
^  Ibid.,  p.  347  of  the  7th  ed.,  1895.    The  book  has  a  concise  and  helpful 
chapter  (xviii)  on  International  Law. 

P  2 


212    The  Literature  of  International  Relations 

itself  to  the  conscience  of  the  Nations  which  they  represent. 
No  human  society  has  ever  long  subsisted,  or  ever  can  long 
subsist,  without  being  bound  together  by  good  laws,  much 
less  the  Society  of  Nations.  It  has  been  the  signal  merit  of 
the  Statesmen  of  Europe,  who  have  had  charge  of  the  inter- 
national interests  of  their  respective  States  during  the  last  half 
century,  that  they  have  agreed  to  modify  the  customary 
Law  of  Nations  from  time  to  time  so  as  to  adapt  it  to  the 
enlightened  demands  of  an  advancing  civilisation.  The  conse- 
quence has  been,  that,  however  indeterminate  in  a  certain 
sense  are  the  rules  of  that  Law,  it  is  a  Law  of  the  Living,  and 
not  of  the  Dead,  and  whilst  there  will  always  be  much  question 
about  the  details  of  its  application  its  flexibility  as  customary 
law  will  always  preserve  it  from  becoming  obsolete.  Meanwhile, 
those  who  by  genius  and  study  are  capable  of  mastering  its 
principles,  and  of  applying  them  with  discernment  to  the 
maintenance  of  a  sound  public  opinion,  where  questions  of 
Right  and  Wrong  are  at  issue  between  Independent  States, 
are  in  substance  although  not  in  form  the  true  law-givers  of 
Nations  in  this  respect.  They  can  however  claim  no  supreme 
authority  for  themselves,  but  must  rest  satisfied  with  commend- 
ing their  views  of  international  obligation  to  the  reason  of 
Statesmen,  and  to  the  conscience  of  mankind  at  large.'  ^ 

About  three  hundred  years  before  these  words  were  written, 
thirty-one  years  before  the  great  work  of  Grotius  was  published, 
and  in  a  year  intermediate  between  the  first  and  the  more 
important  of  the  books  on  War  written  by  Gentilis,  Grotius's 
precursor,  the  essential  foundations  of  a  true  Law  of  Nations 
were  made  clear  by  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  representative 
of  Englishmen — Richard  Hooker.  There  is  a  law,  he  said, 
which  concerns  men  as  individuals.    There  is,  secondly,  a  law 

^  Travers  Twiss,  The  Lam  oj  Nations  .  .  .  in  Time  of  Peace^  new  ed., 
1884,  PP-  xlu-*xliii. 


Hooker  on  the  Law  of  Nations  213 

which  belongs  to  them  as  they  are  men  linked  with  others  in 
some  form  of  political  society  ;  nor  should  they  forget  that 
'  as  any  mans  deed  past  is  good  as  long  as  him  selfe  continueth  : 
so  the  act  of  a  publique  societie  of  men  done  five  hundreth 
yeares  sithence  standeth  as  theirs,  who  presently  are  of  the 
same  societies,  because  corporations  are  immortall :  we  were 
then  alive  in  our  predecessors,  and  they  in  their  successors  do 
live  still  '.^  There  is  a  third  kind  of  law — ^that  which  touches 
all  the  several  bodies  politic,  '  so  far  forth  as  one  of  them  hath 
publique  commerce  with  another.  And  this  third  is  the  Lawe 
of  nations.  Betweene  men  and  beastes  there  is  no  possibilitie 
of  sociable  communion,  because  the  welspring  of  that  com- 
munion is  a  naturall  delight  which  man  hath  to  transfuse 
from  him  selfe  into  others,  and  to  receyve  from  others  into 
himselfe  especially  those  thinges  wherein  the  excellencie  of  his 
kind  doth  most  consist.  The  chiefest  instrument  of  humaine 
communion  therefore  is  speech,  because  thereby  we  impart 
mutuallie  one  to  another  the  conceiptes  of  our  reasonable 
understanding.^  And  for  that  cause  seing  beastes  are  not 
hereof  capable,  for  as  much  as  with  them  we  can  use  no  such 
conference,  they  being  in  degree,  although  above  other  creatures 
on  earth  to  whome  nature  hath  denied  sense,  yet  lower  then  to 
be  sociable  companions  of  man  to  whome  nature  hath  given 

^  Compare  Burke  :  '  Society  ...  is  a  partnership.  ...  As  the  ends  of 
such  a  partnership  cannot  be  obtained  in  many  generations,  it  becomes 
a  partnership  not  only  between  those  who  are  living,  but  between  those 
who  are  living,  those  who  are  dead,  and  those  who  are  to  be  born.  Each 
contract  of  each  particular  state  is  but  a  clause  in  the  great  primaeval 
contract  of  eternal  society,  linking  the  lower  with  the  higher  natures, 
connecting  the  visible  and  invisible  world,  according  to  a  fixed  compact 
sanctioned  by  the  inviolable  oath  which  holds  all  physical  and  all  moral 
natures,  each  in  their  appointed  place.' — Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in 
France,  Works  (1823),  v,  p.  183. 

^  Arist.  Pol.  i,  c.  2. 


214    ^^^  Literature  of  International  Relations 

reason ;  it  is  of  Adam  said  that  amongst  the  beastes  He  found 
not  for  him  selfe  any  meeie  companion.^  Civill  society  doth 
more  content  the  nature  of  man  then  any  private  kind  of 
soUtarie  living,  because  in  societie  this  good  of  mutuall  participa- 
tion is  so  much  larger  then  otherwise.  Herewith  notwithstand- 
ing we  are  not  satisfied,  but  we  covet  (if  it  might  be)  to  have 
a  kind  of  societie  &  fellowship  even  with  al  makind.  Which 
thing  Socrates  intending  to  signifie  professed  him  self  a  Citizen, 
not  of  this  or  that  comon-welth,  but  of  the  world .^  And  an 
effect  of  that  very  natural  desire  in  us,  (a  manifest  token  that 
we  wish  after  a  sort  an  universall  fellowship  with  all  men) 
appeareth  by  the  wounderful  delight  men  have,  some  to  visit 
forrein  countries,  some  to  discover  natios  not  heard  of  in  former 
ages,  we  all  to  know  the  affaires  &  dealings  of  other  people,  yea 
to  be  in  league  of  amitie  vnth  them  :  &  this  not  onely  for 
trafiques  sake,  or  to  the  end  that  when  many  are  cofederated 
each  may  make  other  the  more  strong,  but  for  such  cause  also 
is  *  moved  the  Queene  of  Saba  to  visit  Salomon  ;  *  &  in  a  word 
because  nature  doth  presume  that  how  many  me  there  are  in 
the  world,  so  many  Gods  as  it  were  ther  are,  or  at  least  wise 
such  they  should  be  towards  men.  Touching  lawes  which  are 
to  serve  men  in  this  behalfc,  even  as  those  lawes  of  reason  which 
(man  retayning  his  original  integritie)  had  bene  sufficient  to 
direct  each  particular  person  in  all  his  affaires  &  duties,  are  not 
sufficient  but  require  the  accesse  of  other  lawes,  now  that 
man  and  his  offspring  are  growne  thus  corrupt  and  sinfull ; 
againe  as  those  lawes  of  politic  &  regiment,  which  would  have 
served  men  living  in  publique  societie  together  with  that 
harmlesse  disposition  which  then  they  should  have  had,  are 

*  Gen.  ii.  20. 

*  Cic.  Tusc.  5  [cap.  37],  and  i,  de  legib.  [cap.  12]. 
'  A  misprint,  in  the  first  edition,  for  '  as  '. 

*  I  Kings  X.  I  ;   2  Chron.  ix.  i  ;   Matt.  xiii.  42  ;   Luke  xi.  31. 


Hooker  on  the  Law  of  Nations  215 

not  able  now  to  serve  when  mens  iniquitie  is  so  hardly  restrained 
within  any  tolerable  bounds  :  in  like  manner  the  nationall 
lawes  of  mutuall  commerce  betweene  societies  of  that  former 
and  better  qualitie  might  have  bene  other  then  now,  when 
nations  are  so  prone  to  offer  violence  iniurie  and  wrong.  Here- 
upon hath  growne  in  everie  of  these  three  kindes  that  distinction 
between  Primarie  &  Secundarie  lawes ;  the  one  grouded  upon 
sincere,  the  other  built  upon  depraved  nature.  Primarie  lawes 
of  nations  are  such  as  concerne  embassage,  such  as  belong  to 
the  courteous  entertaynment  of  forreiners  and  strangers,  such 
as  serve  for  commodious  trafique  &  the  like.  Secundarie  lawes 
in  the  same  kinde  are  such  as  this  present  unquiet  world  is 
most  familiarly  acquainted  with,  I  meane  lawes  of  armes, 
which  yet  are  much  better  known  then  kept.  But  what  matter 
the  lawe  of  nations  doth  containe  I  omit  to  search.  The  strength 
and  vertue  of  that  law  is  such  that  no  particular  nation  can 
lawfulle  preiudice  the  same  by  any  their  several  laws  &  ordi- 
nances, more  then  a  man  by  his  private  resolutions  the  law  of 
the  whole  common  welth  or  state  wherin  he  liveth.  For  as 
civill  law  being  the  act  of  a  whole  body  politique  doth  therfore 
overrule  each  severall  part  of  the  same  bodie  :  so  there  is  no 
reason  that  any  one  common  welth  of  it  self  should  to  the 
preiudice  of  another  annihilate  that  whereupon  the  whole 
world  hath  agreed.'  ^ 

^  Of  the  Lawes  of  Ecclesiasticall  Politie,  bk.  i.  lo,  pp.  74  and  76-7  of  the 
first  edition,  which  has  been  followed  in  the  extract  given. 


APPENDIX  I 

Extracts  illustrative  of  the  Function  of  the  Am- 
bassador, the  Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist,  and  the 
Conduct  of  Negotiations 


The  Function  of  the  Ambassador 

(i)  Vera,  El  Emhaxador^  translated  into  French  under  the 
title  Le  Parfait  Amhassadeur  :  ^ 

Definition  de  la  Charge  d* Amhassadeur :  *  Un  Conciliateur 
des  affaires  des  Princes,  un  homme  envoye  de  loin,  pour  traiter 
des  affaires  puhliques,  par  election  particuliere  non  avec  des  ruses 
ou  finesses  de  guerre,  mais  avec  V eloquence  iff  la  force  de  f  esprit. 
Autres  auteurs  luy  donnent  cette  definition  :  C^est,  disent-ils, 
un  sujet  qui  ressemble  a  un  Mediateur  d* amour.  Et  afin  que  cette 
comparaison  ne  vous  semble  pas  indigne  de  la  matiere,  ecoutez 
ce  que  Platon  en  dit.  //  n'y  a  rien  a  dire  de  VOrateur  au 
Cuysinier.  Comme  le  bon  Cuysinier  avec  ses  divers  assaison- 
nemens,  donne  bon  goust  a  plusieurs  viandes  qui  seroient  fades 
toutes  seules :  ainsi  I'Orateur,  avec  la  douceur  de  son  eloquence 
&  la  variete  des  figures  de  Rhetorique,  rend  agreables  plusieurs 
matieres  qui  seroient  odieuses  aux  mesmes  oreilles  a  qui  elles 
plaisent,  sans  estre  pourveues  de  cet  ornement  :  mnsi  un 
Ambassadeur,  est  un  Mediateur  d'amour,  qui  par  son  Industrie 
unit    deux    volontez    contraires.' — Le    Parfait    Ambassadeur, 

PP-  32-3- 

*  L'Ambassadeur  est  apel6,  de  quelques  uns,  I'organe  par 

laquelle  les  pensees  &  les  conceptions  des  absents  se  communi- 

quent,  &  I'Ambassade  I'Art   de  conserver  deux  Princes  en 

amitie.' — Ibid.,  p.  36. 

*  See  above,  pp.  1 52-3. 


Functions  of  the  Ambassador  217 

Qui  fut  Vauteur  de  la  -premiere  Ambassade  :  '  La  necessite 
en  fut  I'inventrice,  quand  la  Deesse  Pandore  sema  par  le  monde 
les  calamitez  &  les  travaux  au  lieu  des  biens  que  les  Dieux  luy 
avoient  deposez.  Apres  ce  siecle  dore  &  heureux,  que  les 
hommes  commencerent  a  habiter  les  maisons,  &  a  diviser  le 
propre  d'avec  celuy  d'autruy,  ce  fut  lors  que  les  Ambassades 
furent  introduites,  pour  essayer  en  remonstrant  I'equite,  a 
recouvrer  ce  que  I'ambition  &  la  force  des  uns,  avoit  usurpe 
sur  la  simplicite  &  la  foiblesse  des  autres ;  ou  bien  pour  d'autres 
negoces  &  traitez  :  On  dit  que  le  Roy  Bellus  fut  le  premier 
qui  se  servit  de  ce  moyen  :  mais  les  Poetes  I'attribuent  a 
Palamedes.' — Ibid.^  pp.  53-4. 

(2)  WiCQUEFORT,  UAmbassadeur  et  ses  Fonctions,  translated 
into  English  by  John  Digby  under  the  title,  The  Embassador 
and  his  Functions  :  ^ 

Of  the  Function  of  the  Embassador  in  general :  a  Messenger 
of  Peace  ;  an  honourable  Spy  :  '  I  make  use  of  this  Word  on 
purpose  to  distinguish  between  the  Functions  and  the  Actions 
of  an  Embassador  ;  because  the  ones  have  a  nearer  Relation 
to  the  Character,  and  the  others  to  the  Person.  The  Embassa- 
dor does  not  always  negotiate ;  that  is  to  say  ;  he  ought  not 
always  to  act  the  Embassador  every  where,  and  on  all  Occasions. 
I  said  elsewhere,  that  he  ought  to  have  a  Tincture  of  the 
Comedian,^  and  I  must  here  add,  That  perhaps  in  the  whole 
Commerce  of  the  World,  there  is  not  a  more  comical  Personage 
than  the  Embassador.  There  is  not  a  more  illustrious  Theatre 
than  a  Court ;  neither  is  there  any  Comedy,  where  the  Actors 
seem  less  what  they  are  in  effect,  than  Embassadors  do  in  their 
Negotiation  ;  and  there  is  none  that  represents  more  important 
Personages.  But  as  the  best  Actor  is  not  always  upon  the  Stage, 
but  changes  his  manner  of  Behaviour  after  the  Curtain  is 
drawn  ;  so  the  Embassador  who  has  play'd  his  part  well  in  the 
Functions  of  his  Character,  ought  to  act  the  Man  of  Honour 
and  the  Gentleman,  when  he  comes  to  act  the  Comedian  .  .  . 
This  compound  of  FormaHties,  Decencies,  and  Circumspections 
may  indeed  form  a  politick  Pedant,  but  not  a  perfect  Embassa- 
dor, who  ought  to  be  a  consummate  gallant  Man,  that  is  to 

^  See  above,  pp.  1 53-5.  ^  See  Callieres,  below,  p.  227. 


21 8  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

say,  a  Man  fram'd  to  the  Mode  of  the  Court.  Nothing  hinders 
an  Embassador  from  seeing  and  entertaining  the  Ladies ;  but 
if  on  these  Occasions,  where  even  Kings  themselves  show 
themselves  communicative  and  familiar,  he  should  affect  to 
be  grave,  and  keep  up  the  Character  of  Embassador  ;  I  would 
not  say  that  he  would  thereby  render  himself  ridiculous,  but  he 
would  not  be  far  from  it.  ...  I  have  spoken  ...  of  the  Instruc- 
tion Queen  Elizabeth  gave  in  the  Year  1570  to  Francis  Walsing- 
ham}  who  went  on  her  Part  in  the  Quality  of  Embassador  into 
France.  It  contains  almost  all  the  general  Duties  of  an 
Embassador  in  Ordinary  ...  In  these  few  Lines  you  find  the 
two  first  Functions  of  an  Embassador,  who  is  represented  there 
as  a  Messenger  oj  Peace  on  one  side,  and  as  an  honourable  Spy  on 
the  other  .  .  .  One  of  the  first  Things  that  the  Embassador 
ought  to  do,  to  succeed  in  the  Profession  of  a  Spy,  is  to  study 
well  the  Humour  and  Genius  of  the  Ministers  that  compose 
the  Council  of  the  Prince  with  whom  he  is  to  negotiate  .  .  .  All 
Ministers  are  Men,  and  as  such  they  have  their  Foible  .  .  . 
Commines  says,  there  is  not  any  Court  but  has  Malecontents 
in  it  :  and  I  think  I  may  add  ;  there  are  none  without  Traytors ; 

^  See  Foreign  Calendar,  1569-71  ;  and  the  first  'instructions'  in  'The 
Compleat  Ambassador  :  or  Two  Treaties  of  the  Intended  Marriage  of 
Qu:  Elizabeth  of  Glorious  Memory  ;  comprised  in  Letters  of  Negotiation  of 
Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  her  Resident  in  France.  Together  with  the 
Answers  of  the  Lord  of  Burleigh,  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  Sir  Thos:  Smith, 
&  others.  Wherein,  as  in  a  clear  Mirror,  may  be  seen  the  Faces  of  the 
two  Courts  of  England  and  France,  as  they  then  stood  ;  with  many  remark- 
able passages  of  State,  not  at  all  mentioned  in  History.  Faithfully  collected 
by  the  truly  Honourable  Sir  Dudley  Digges  Knight,  late  Master  of  the 
Rolls.'  Small  folio,  1655,  pp.  (xiv  +  )  441  (and  Index  of  6  pp.).  'A.  H.'  in 
his  words  'To  the  Reader',  written  in  1654,  says  regarding  Walsingham 
that  the  Papers  brought  together  in  this  volume  show  '  how  vigilant  he 
was  to  gather  true  Intelligence  ;  what  means  and  Persons  he  used  for  it ; 
how  punctual  he  was  in  keeping  to  his  Instructions,  where  he  was  limited; 
and  how  wary  and  judicious  where  he  was  left  free  ;  still  advancing,  upon 
all  occasions,  the  Reputation  and  Interest  of  his  Great  Mistress,  with  a  most 
lively  and  indefatigable  Devotion.'  '  For  the  second  Treatie,'  writes 
'  A.  H.',  '  which  was  set  on  foot  in  the  year  1581  with  Monsieur  the  Duke 
of  Alanson  I  do  conceive  that  it  was  really  intended  by  the  French,  and 
by  the  chief  of  the  English  Councel,  except  Leicester  (who  had  pretensions 
of  his  own  ;)  but  for  her  own  Mind,  what  that  really  was,  I  must  leave, 
as  a  thing  doubly  inscrutable,  both  as  she  was  a  Woman  and  a  Queen  ' — 
'  To  the  Reader  '. 


Ftmctions  of  the  Ambassador  219 

but  as  the  Embassador  must  distrust  these,  so  he  ought  not 
indifferently  and  without  Distinction  to  put  his  Confidence 
in  those  :  ...  It  requires  a  great  Penetration  to  see  to  the 
Bottom  of  the  Heart  of  Man,  which  is  impenetrable  to  all  other 
Understandings  but  the  Divine.  It  is  what  no  Rules  nor 
Instructions  can  be  given  for,  except  in  general,  that  the 
Embassador  ought  to  form  himself  by  his  own  Experience.'  ^ — 
U Amhassadeur  et  ses  Fonctions,  translated  by  Digby,  pp.  294, 
296,  300. 

(3)  CalliIres,  De  la  Maniere  de  negocier  avec  les  Souverains  :  ^ 

Des  Fonctions  du  Negociateur  :  ^  '  Les  fonctions  d'un  Ministre 
envoye  dans  un  Pays  etranger  se  peuvent  reduire  a  deux 
principales  ;  Tune  est  d'y  traiter  les  affaires  de  son  Prince, 
&  1  'autre  est  de  decouvrir  celles  d'autrui.'  * 

'  II  doit  encore  s'instruire  exactement  de  I'Etat  de  ses  forces, 
tant  de  terre  que  de  mer,  du  nombre  de  ses  Places,  si  elles  sont 
bien  munies  &  bien  fortifiees,  de  I'etat  de  ses  Ports,  et  ses 
Vaisseaux  &  ses  Arcenaux,  quelles  troupes  il  pent  mettre  en 
campagne,  tant  de  Cavalerie  que  d'Infanterie,  sans  degarnir 
ses  places  et  ses  frontieres ;  quels  sont  ses  revenus  ordinaires 
et  extraordinaires,  &  quel  est  son  credit  sur  la  bourse  de  ses 
sujets,  s'ils  sont  affectionnez  ou  mecontens ;  les  intrigues  qui 
sont  dans  sa  Cour,  s'il  y  a  des  factions  &  des  partiaUtez  dans 
son  Etat  &  entre  ses  Ministres  sur  le  gouvernement,  ou  sur 
la  Rehgion  ;  sa  depense  annuelle,  tant  pour  sa  maison,  que  pour 
I'entretien  de  ses  troupes,  &  pour  ses  plaisirs,  quelles  sont  ses 
alliances,  tant  offensives  que  defensives  avec  d'autres  Puis- 
sances, &  celles  qui  sont  ennemies  ou  suspectes,  qui  sont  les 
Princes  et  les  Etats  qui  recherchent  son  amitie,  quelles  de- 
marches ils  font  pour  cela,  &  a  quelles  fins,  quel  est  le  principal 
traffic  qui  se  fait  dans  ses  fitats,  leur  fertilite  ou  leur  sterilite.'  ^ 

^  See,  further,  Book  ir,  ch.  ii,  '  With  whom  the  Embassador  ought  to 
negotiate  ',  pp.  301-6 ;  ch.  iii,  '  How  the  Embassadors  ought  to  negotiate  ', 
pp.  306-15;  ch.  iv,  'The  Embassador  ought  not  to  meddle  with  the 
Domestick  Affairs  of  the  State  where  he  negotiates  ',  pp.  315-22  ;  ch.  v, 
'  The  Embassador  ought  to  execute  his  Orders,  and  how ',  pp.  322-8 
('  Cardinal  Mazarin's  Orders  were  sometimes  admirable,  but  very  per- 
plexing',  p.  328).  2  See  above,  pp.  155-6. 

^  ch.  viii,  pp.  85-100.  *  p.  85.  ^  pp.  96-7. 


220  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

(4)  Martens  (Charles  de),  Le  Guide  diplomatique  :  * 
Des  Fonctions  de  V agent  diplomatique :  '  Les  fonctions  du 
ministre  sont  la  pratique  de  ses  devoirs ;  nous  n'en  saurions 
donner  une  definition  a  la  fois  plus  courte  et  plus  complete  .  .  . 
La  vigilance  du  ministre  public  s'etend  a  tout  ce  qui  se  passe 
sous  ses  yeux  ...  II  y  a  des  circonstances  delicates  oil  la  con- 
duite  des  affaires  exige  d'aller  au  dela  de  la  souplesse,  et  ou  la 
ruse  peut  devenir  necessaire  et  meme  licite,  surtout  quand 
I'agent  qui  y  recourt  se  trouve  excuse  d'en  faire  usage  par 
I'emploi  qu'on  fait  contre  lui  .  .  .  II  y  a  des  moments  critiques 
dans  la  vie  des  Etats  ou  il  semble  que  les  circonstances  dans  les- 
quelles  ils  se  trouvent  doivent  tout  absoudre  ;  mais  il  en  est 
de  semblables  dans  celle  des  individus,  et  qui  oserait  affirmer 
que,  egalement  menaces,  les  uns  puissent  s'affranchir  de  la 
loi  et  non  les  autres  ?  Faire  de  la  corruption  un  moyen  appli- 
cable a  tons  les  cas  ou  elle  peut  etre  profitable,  c'est  en  faire 
aussi  un  dissolvant  universel ;  c'est  ouvrir  la  porte  a  tous  les 
scandales,  c'est  apprendre  aux  hommes  a  capituler  avec  leur 
conscience  :   la  ou  la  venalite  prevaut  I'honneur  abdique.'  ^ 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist 

I .  Bon  Ambassadeur  :  Bon  Orateur  :  ^ 

{a)  '  Pyrrhus  afferma  plusieurs  fois  qu'il  avoit  plus  conquis 
de  citez  avec  I'Eloquence  de  Cineas,  qu'avec  les  armes  de  ses 
guerriers.  Pyrrhus  avoit  raison,  car  outre  que  Cineas  le  servoit 
avec  un  grand  zele,  il  se  gouvernoit  fort  prudemment  &  avoit  si 
bonne  memoire,  qu'estant  alle  Ambassadeur  a  Rome,  des  le 
lendemain  de  son  arrivee,  a  ce  que  dit  Conrard,  il  sgavoit 
appeller  tous  les  Senateurs  par  leur  nom  . . .'  *  I'appelle  *  vertu 
en  I'Ambassadeur,  une  Industrie  absolue  approuvee  de  plusieurs 
experiences,  de  sciences  civiles,  d'une  connoissance  parfaite 
des  Histoires,  d'une  naturelle  Eloquence  &  d'une  connoissance 
generale  de  toutes  les  affaires  qu'on  luy  peut  commettre,  &  en 

^  See  above,  pp.  156-7. 

*  Le  Guide  diplomatique^  i,  pp.  174,  174-5,  177. 

^  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  177-8  ;  p.  17,  foot-note,  above. 

*  '  Louis  '  speaking  in  Vera's  dialogue. 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  221 

fin,  d'une  prudence  &  vivacite  d'entendement,  qui  puisse 
donner  une  methode  pour  faire  reussir  un  affaire,  ou  pour 
detourner  les  obstacles  qui  s'y  oposeront :  d'autant  qu'en 
cette  prudence  que  i'entends,  il  s'y  trouvera  les  especes  delibera- 
tive, indicative,  &  preceptive  ;  qui  sont  requises  en  un  Ambassa- 
deur ;  a  la  premiere  de  ces  especes  appartient  la  faculte  de 
discourir  pour  &  contre  la  matiere  qui  se  proposera  ;  la  seconde, 
d'eclaircir  la  resolution  qui  se  prendra  ;  &  la  preceptive,  pour 
la  mettre  en  execution  .  .  .  Et  I'on  peut  prouver  par  Athenes, 
Corinthe  &  Rome,  que  I'antiquite  ne  concedoit  iamais  Ambas- 
sade  a  personne  qu'il  ne  fust  Orateur  fort  eminent.  Georges 
Lontinus  fut  plusieurs  fois  en  Ambassade  a  Athenes,  non  pas 
pour  estre  le  plus  noble  des  Latins,  mais  parce  qu'il  estoit  le 
plus  eloquent.'  ^ 

(b)  '  On  a  donne  le  nom  d'Orateurs  aux  Ambassadeurs, 
pour  exprimer  qu'il  faut  qu'ils  sachent  bien  parler;  mais 
I'eloquence  d'un  Ambassadeur  doit  etre  fort  differente  de  celle 
de  la  Chaire  &  du  Barreau,  ses  discours  doivent  etre  plus  pleins 
de  sens  que  de  paroles,  sans  y  affecter  des  termes  trop  recher- 
chez,  il  faut  qu'il  accommode  son  discours  a  ceux  ausquels  il 
I'adresse  &  que  tout  ce  qu'il  dit  concoure  a  la  fin  qu'il  se  propose, 
qui  est  de  les  convaincre  des  choses  qu'il  est  charge  de  leur 
representer  &  de  les  determiner  a  prendre  les  resolutions  qu'il 
desire,  ce  qui  est  la  preuve  de  la  vraye  eloquence. 

S'il  parle  a  un  Prince,  il  faut  qu'il  le  fasse  sans  clever  sa  voix, 
mais  du  ton  d'une  conversation  ordinaire,  d'un  air  modeste 
&  respectueux  &  d'un  stile  concis,  apres  avoir  bien  pese  & 
examine  les  expressions  dont  il  se  sert,  les  Princes  n'aiment  pas 
les  longs  discours  ni  les  grands  parleurs,  un  habile  Negociateur 
ne  doit  pas  tomber  dans  ce  deffaut,  qui  ne  convient  qu'a  des 
Ecoliers  ou  a  des  pedans,  la  sagesse  &  les  longs  discours  se 
trouvent  rarement  ensemble.'  ^ 

2.  (a)  Of  the  birth  and  learning  of  an  Embassador :  ^  *  I 
cannot  tell  whether  the  Men  of  Letters  are  fitter  for  Embassy 
than  Tradesmen  :  but  I  shall  not  scruple  to  say,  that  an 
Embassador  is  not  better  form'd  in  the  College  than  in  the 

^  Le  Parjait  Ambassadeur.^  pp.  178-9,  180-1. 

^  Callieres,  pp.  232-3. 

^  Wicquefort,  V Ambassadeur  et  ses  Fonctions,  translated  by  Digby. 


222  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

Shop.  If  the  one  renders  us  Cowardly  and  Self-interested 
the  other  makes  us  Clownish  and  Opiniated  ;  and  neither 
in  the  one  nor  in  the  other  is  learn'd  what  an  Embassador 
ought  to  know  ;  .  .  .  Cardinal  Bessarion  was  a  very  fit  man  to 
fill  a  Professor's  Chair,  to  teach  the  Greek  Tongue  ;  as  in  reality 
he  was  one  of  those,  that  revived  the  primitive  Knowledge 
of  it  in  the  most  Western  Parts  of  Europe,  in  the  fifteenth 
century  ;  but  when  he  was  put  into  another  Profession,  and 
was  vested  with  the  Quality  of  Legate,  to  negotiate  with  the 
first  Princes  of  Christendom,  he  discover'd  his  Ignorance, 
and  made  it  plain  that  he  did  not  know  the  first  Rudiments 
of  it,  by  going  to  see  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  before  he  had 
visited  the  King  of  France  ...  I  am  so  far  also  from  excluding 
all  the  Learned  from  this  sort  of  Employment,  that  I  could 
wish  all  that  enter  upon  it  were  learned ;  provided  that  with 
their  Learning,  they  had  also  all  the  other  necessary  Qualifica- 
tions. .  .  .There  is  a  Habit  contracted  in  reading,  which  is 
directly  opposite  to  the  constant  activity  of  an  Embassador  .  .  . 
the  School  infects  with  a  certain  contracting  Humour,  which 
is  inconsistent  with  the  Character  of  a  well-bred  Man.  They 
who  study  only  as  much  as  is  requisite  to  become  such,  and  to 
make  Learning  subservient  to  their  Profession,  have  thereby 
a  great  Advantage  ;  tho'  good  sense  always  relieves  those  who 
have  not  Study'd.  The  Study  of  polite  Literature  ought  to 
be  a  Foundation  to  all  the  Embassador's  Knowledge  :  There 
true  Morality  is  to  be  learn'd  .  .  .  There  is  no  Philosopher  that 
teaches  it  more  agreeably  than  Horace  .  .  .  Provided  we  do  not 
strike  into  Criticism  nor  Pedantry,  we  shall  find  there  the 
Principles  of  Honesty,  which  ought  to  be  the  first  Quality  of 
the  Embassador.  The  Knowledge  of  the  Civil  Law,  if  it  be 
founded  upon  that  of  the  History  of  the  Roman  Laws,  is  an 
admirable  Ingredient  for  a  Minister.  But  there  are  but  few 
that  apply  themselves  to  it ;  because  to  speak  the  Truth,  the 
major  Part  of  the  Doctors  that  teach  it,  do  not  understand 
it ;  or  if  they  do  understand  it,  they  will  not  give  themselves 
the  trouble  to  teach  it  to  their  Scholars  .  .  .  There  is  nothing 
but  the  perfect  Knowledge  of  the  State  of  ancient  Rome,  and 
of  the  Occasions  upon  which  the  Laws  were  enacted,  that  can 
give  a  right  judgment  of  the  Intention  of  the  Legislators ;  as 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  223 

well  as  of  the  Reasons,  upon  which  so  many  great  Men  have 
grounded  the  Opinions,  that  compose  the  Digests  or  Pandects  ; 
as  the  Decrees  and  Edicts  of  the  Emperors  make  what  is  call'd 
the  Code,  and  the  Authenticks.  .  . .  But  the  chief  Study  of  those 
that  design  to  be  employ'd  in  Embassies,  ought  to  be  that  of 
History  ;  I  comprehend  under  that  Name  all  that  depends 
thereon,  and  is  any  way  useful  to  it,  as  Memoirs,  Instructions, 
and  Negotiations ;  and  particularly  Treaties  ...  It  may  be 
said  of  History,  that  there  is  none  so  bad  but  something  useful 
shall  be  found  in  it  .  .  .  Thucidides,  Xenophon  and  Polybius 
amongst  the  Greeks  :  Titus  Livius,  Julius  Caesar,  Sallustius, 
Velleitis  Paterculus  and  Tacitus  amongst  the  Romans,  ought 
to  be  study'd  .  .  .  Let  our  Politicians  give  the  first  Place  to 
Tacitus  if  they  please,  for  my  part  I  shall  be  bold  to  say,  that 
upon  an  equitable  and  impartial  Judgment,  Philip  de  Comines 
...  is  nothing  inferior  to  him  in  any  respect  whatever  . . .  There 
is  not  any  Book  so  useful  to  Princes  and  Ministers  as  the 
Memoirs  of  Comines.  His  Disinterestedness  appears  every 
where,  he  does  Justice  to  every  Body ;  and  there  is  not  any 
remarkable  Accident,  of  which  he  does  not  assign  the  first 
Cause  to  His  Providence,  who  holds  the  Hearts  of  Kings  in 
his  Hand ;  that  is  to  say,  the  God  of  Battles,  who  alone  disposes 
of  Crowns  and  Monarchies.  Nicholas  MatchiaveVs  History  of 
Florence  is  a  compleat  Work,  and  almost  inimitable  .  .  .'  ^ 

{b)  Des  Connoissances  necessaires  et  utiles  a  un  Negociateur  :  ^ 
'  Un  homme  qui  est  ne  avec  les  qualitez  propres  a  traiter  les 
affaires  publiques,  &  qui  se  sent  de  I'inclination  a  s'y  apliquer, 
doit  commencer  par  s'instruire  de  I'etat  ou  se  trouvent  les 
affaires  de  I'Europe,  des  principaux  interets  qui  y  regnent  & 
qui  la  divisent,  de  la  forme  des  divers  gouvernemens  qui  y  sont 
etablis  &  du  caractere  des  Princes,  des  Generaux  &  des  Ministres 
qui  y  sont  en  autorite  &  en  credit.'  ^ 

'  L'etude  de  la  forme  du  gouvernement  qui  est  presentement 
etabli  dans  chaque  Etat  de  I'Europe,  est  tres-necessaire  a  un 
Negociateur,  il  n'est  pas  de  sa  prudence  d'attendre  a  s'instruire 
de  celle  de  chaque  pays  ou  on  I'envoye  a  mesure  qu'il  y  arrive ; 

^  Wicquefort,  op.  cit.,  pp.  50-2. 

^  Callieres,  De  la  maniere  de  negocier  avec  les  Souverains,  ch.  v. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  49-50. 


224  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

c'est  voyager  dans  les  terres  inconnues  &  s'exposer  a  s'y  egarer 
....  II  y  a  des  differences  tres-essentielles  entre  I'autorite  d'un 
Roi,  &  celle  d'un  autre  Roi,  quoiqu'il  n'y  en  ait  aucune  dans  le 
nom  de  leur  dignite,  il  y  a  des  pays  ou  il  ne  suffit  pas  d'etre 
d'accord  avec  le  Prince  &  avec  ses  Ministres,  parce  qu'il  y  a 
d'autres  puissances  qui  y  balancent  la  sienne,  &  qui  ont  le 
pouvoir  d'empecher  I'effet  de  ses  resolutions  &  de  lui  en  faire 
prendre  de  contraires ;  c'est  ce  qu'on  a  vu  en  Angleterre,  ou 
I'autorite  du  Parlement  oblige  souvent  les  Rois  a  faire  la  paix 
ou  la  guerre,  contre  leur  volonte,  &  en  Pologne  ou  les  Diettes 
generales  ont  encore  un  pouvoir  plus  etendu,  &  ou  il  ne  faut 
que  gagner  un  seul  Nonce  de  la  Diette,  &  le  faire  protester 
contre  les  resolutions  prises  par  le  Roi,  par  le  Senat  &  par  tous 
les  autres  Nonces  ou  deputez  des  Provinces  pour  empecher 
I'effet '.1 

3.  General  Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist :  Du  Choix  des 
Negociateurs :  ^ 

*  Pour  bien  choisir  des  Negociateurs  propres  aux  emplois 
qu'on  leur  destine,  il  faut  avoir  egard  a  leur  qualite  personnelle, 
a  leur  profession,  a  leur  fortune  ;  au  Prince  ou  a  I'Etat  vers 
lequel  on  les  envoye,  &  a  la  nature  de  I'affaire  dont  on  veut  les 
charger.'  ^ 

*  La  sage  Republique  de  Venise  est  si  persuadee  de  la  par- 
tialite  de  ses  Prelats  et  de  ses  Gens  d'Eglise  pour  le  Saint  Siege, 
qu'elle  ne  se  contente  pas  de  ne  les  point  employer  a  I'Ambassade 
de  Rome,  mais  elle  les  exclud  de  toutes  ses  deliberations  qui 
regardent  cette  Cour-la,  &  elle  les  fait  sortir  de  ses  Assemblies 
lorsqu'il  s'agit  de  quelques  affaires  Ecclesiastiques  .  .  .  Un 
Cardinal,  un  Abbe  Commendataire  &  tous  les  Ecclesiastiques 
qui  n'ont  point  de  charge  d'ame  y  peuvent  etre  employez  avec 
plus  de  bienseance  &  avec  moins  de  scrupule  pour  eux  &  pour  le 
Prince  qui  les  y  employe.  Les  Religieux  sont  quelquefois 
propres  a  porter  des  paroles  secretes  &  importantes  par  la 
facility  qu'ils  ont  de  s'introduire  aupres  des  Princes  ou  de  leurs 
Ministres,  sous  d'autres  pretext es,  mais  il  ne  seroit  pas  de  la  bien- 
seance de  les  voir  revetus  d'un  caractere  de  Ministre  Public'  * 

*  Calli^res,  op.  dt,  pp.  56,  57.  '  Ibid..,  ch.  xxi,  pp.  210-22. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  210.  *  Ibid.y  pp.  212,  214-15. 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  225 

*  II  est  important  aux  Princes  &  aux  Etats  Souverains  de 
choisir  des  sujets  agreables  aux  pays  ou  ils  les  envoyent,  il  faut 
pour  cela  avoir  egard  a  la  difference  des  gouvernemens  &  des 
inclinations  qui  regnent  dans  chaque  pays  &  sur  tout  a  la 
Religion  qui  y  domine.'  ^ 

'  Les  gens  de  grand  qualite  sont  propres  aux  Ambassades, 
parce  que  leurs  noms  imposent  &  les  font  respecter  ;  mais 
quelque  respect  qu'on  ait  pour  leur  rang  &  pour  leur  naissance, 
ils  ont  encore  besoin  d'un  bon  entendement,  de  savoir  & 
d'experience  pour  bien  conduire  une  negociation  importante, 
&  ils  sont  sujets  a  se  tromper,  lorsqu'ils  croyent  comme  font 
plusieurs  de  cette  espece  qu'on  ne  doit  rien  refuser  a  leur 
qualite.'  ^ 

'  Un  jeune  Negociateur  est  d'ordinaire  presomptueux,  vain, 
leger,  &  indiscret,  &  il  y  a  du  risque  a  le  charger  d'une  affaire 
de  consequence,  a  moins  que  ce  ne  soit  un  sujet  d'un  merite 
singulier  &  dont  I'heureux  naturel  ait  prevenu  les  dons  de  I'age 
et  de  I'experience. 

'  Un  vieillard  est  chagrin,  difficultueux,  trouvant  a  redire 
a  tout,  blamant  les  plaisirs  qu'il  ne  pent  plus  prendre,  peu 
propre  a  s'insinuer  dans  les  bonnes  graces  d'un  Prince  &  de  ses 
Ministres,  &  hors  d'etat  d'agir  par  la  lenteur  &  les  incommo- 
ditez  attachees  a  la  vieillesse. 

'  L'age  mediocre  est  le  plus  propre  aux  negociations,  parce 
qu'on  y  trouve  experience,  la  discretion  &  la  moderation  qui 
manquent  aux  jeunes  gens,  &la  vigueur,  l'activite&  I'agrement, 
qui  abandonnent  les  vieillards.'  ^ 

'  Un  homme  de  lettres  est  beaucoup  plus  propre  qu'un  homme 
sans  etude  a  faire  un  bon  Negociateur  ;  il  sait  parler  &  repon- 
dre  juste  sur  tout  ce  qu'on  lui  dit ;  il  parle  avec  connoissance  des 
droits  des  Souverains,  il  explique  ceux  de  son  Prince,  il  les 
appuye  par  des  faits  &  par  des  exemples  qu'il  sait  citer  bien 
a  propos,  pendant  qu'un  ignorant  ne  sait  alleguer  pour  toute 
raison  que  la  volonte  ou  la  puissance  de  son  Maitre  &  les  ordres 
qu'il  en  a  re^us,  qui  ne  font  pas  de  loi  aupres  des  Princes  & 
des  Etats  libres  &  independans,  lesquels  cedent  souvent  aux 
remonstrances  judicieuses  d'un  homme  savant  &  eloquent. 


2224 


^  p.  223.  ^  pp.  227-8. 

'  pp.  229-30.    Cf.  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  331-4. 


Q 


226  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

*Les  Negociateurs  ignorans  &  remplis  de  la  grandeur  de  leur 
Maitre  sont  encore  sujets  a  prendre  son  nom  en  vain,  c'est-a-dire 
a  le  citer  mal-a-propos  dans  les  choses  qui  ne  regardent  point 
ses  interets,  pour  autoriser  leurs  passions  particulieres,  au  lieu 
qu'un  sage  Negociateur  evite  de  compromettre  le  nom  & 
I'autorite  de  son  Prince,  &  ne  le  cite  jamais  que  bien  a 
propos.  .  .  . 

*  La  science  des  faits  &  de  I'histoire  est  une  des  principales 
parties  de  I'habilete  d'un  Negociateur,  parce  que  les  raisons 
^tant  souvent  problematiques,  la  plupart  des  hommes  se  con- 
duisent  par  les  exemples  &  se  determinent  sur  ce  qui  a  cte 
fait  en  pareil  cas. 

'  Un  Negociateur  sans  etude  est  sujet  a  tomber  dans  plusieurs 
inconveniens  par  I'obscurite  &  par  la  mauvaise  construction  de 
ses  discours  &  de  ses  depeches.  II  ne  suffit  pas  de  bien  penser 
sur  une  affaire,  il  faut  savoir  expliquer  ses  pensees  correcte- 
ment,  clairement  &  intelligiblement,  &  il  faut  qu'un  Ministre 
ait  de  la  facilite  a  bien  parler  en  public  &  a  bien  ecrire,  ce  qui 
est  tres-rare  &  tres-difficile  a  un  homme  sans  etude.'  ^ 

Des  Qualiuz  et  de  la  Coniuite  du  Negociateur :  ^  *  Ces 
qualitez  sont  un  esprit  attentif  &  applique,  qui  ne  se  laisse 
point  distraire  par  les  plaisirs,  &  par  les  amusemens  frivoles, 
un  sens  droit  qui  con^oive  nettement  les  choses  comme  elles 
sont,  &  qui  aille  au  but  par  les  voyes  les  plus  courtes  &  les 
plus  naturelles,  sans  s'egarer  a  force  de  rafinement  &  de  vaines 
subtilitez  qui  rebuttent  d'ordinaire  ceux  avec  qui  on  traite, 
de  la  penetration  pour  decouvrir  ce  qui  se  passe  dans  le  coeur 
des  hommes  &  pour  savoir  profiter  des  moindres  mouvemens 
de  leurs  visages  &  des  autres  effets  de  leurs  passions,  qui  6chapent 
aux  plus  dissimulez  ;  un  esprit  fecond  en  expediens,  pour 
aplanir  les  difficultez  qui  se  rencontrent  a  ajuster  les  interets 
dont  on  est  charge ;  de  la  presence  d'esprit  pour  r^pondre  bien 
a  propos  sur  les  choses  imprevues,  &  pour  se  tirer  par  des 
r^ponses  judicieuses  d'un  pas  glissant ;  une  humeur  egale,  & 
un  naturel  tranquile  &  patient,  toujours  dispose  a  ecouter 
sans  distraction  ceux  avec  qui  il  traite  ;  un  abord  toujours 
ouvert,  doux,  civil,  agreable,  des  manieres  aisees  &  insinuantes 
qui  contribuent  beaucoup  a  acquerir  les  inclinations  de  ceux 
*  Calli^res,  pp.  230-1.  •  Ibid..^  ch.  iv,  pp.  19-39. 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  227 

avec  qui  on  traite,  au  lieu  qu'un  air  grave  &  froid,  &  une  mine 
sombre  &  rude,  rebute  &  cause  d'ordinaire  de  I'aversion. 

II  faut  sur  tout  qu'un  bon  Negociateur  ait  assez  de  pouvoir 
sur  lui-meme  pour  resister  a  la  demangeaison  de  parler  avane 
que  de  s'etre  bien  consulte  sur  ce  qu'il  a  a  dire,  qu'il  ne  se 
pique  pas  de  repondre  sur  le  champ  &  sans  premeditation  aux 
propositions  qu'on  lui  fait,  &  qu'il  prenne  garde  de  tomb.er 
dans  le  defaut  d'un  fameux  Ambassadeur  etranger  de  notre 
terns,  qui  etoit  si  vif  dans  la  dispute,  que  lorsqu'on  I'echauffoit 
en  le  contre-disant,  il  reveloit  souvent  des  secrets  d'importance 
pour  soutenir  son  opinion. 

*  II  ne  faut  pas  aussi  qu'il  donne  dans  le  defaut  oppose  de 
certains  esprits  mysterieux,  qui  font  des  secrets  de  rien,  &  qui 
erigent  en  affaires  d'importance  de  pures  bagatelles ;  c'est 
une  marque  de  petitesse  d'esprit  de  ne  savoir  pas  discerner  les 
choses  de  consequence  d'avec  celles  qui  ne  le  sont  pas,  &  c'est 
s'oter  les  moyens  de  decouvrir  ce  qui  se  passe,  &  d'acquerir 
aucune  part  a  la  confiance  de  ceux  avec  qui  on  est  en  commerce, 
lorsqu'on  a  avec  eux  une  continuelle  reserve.'  ^ 

'  Un  habile  Negociateur  ne  laisse  pas  penetrer  son  secret 
avant  le  temps  propre  ;  mais  il  faut  qu'il  sache  cacher  cette 
retenue  a  ceux  avec  qui  il  traite  .  .  .  II  ne  suffit  pas  pour  former 
un  bon  Negociateur,  qu'il  ait  toutes  les  lumieres,  toute  la 
dexterite  &  les  autres  belles  qualitez  de  I'esprit  :  il  faut  qu'il 
ait  encore  celles  qui  dependent  des  sentimens  du  coeur,  il 
n'y  a  point  d'emploi  qui  demande  plus  d'elevation  &  plus  de 
noblesse  dans  les  manieres  d'agir. 

'  Un  Ambassadeur  ressemble  en  quelque  maniere  a  un 
Comedien,  expose  sur  le  theatre  aux  yeux  du  Public  pour 
y  jouer  de  grands  roles.'  ^ 

'  Pour  soutenir  la  dignite  attachee  a  ces  emplois,  il  faut  que 
celui  qui  en  est  revetu,  soit  liberal  &  magnifique,  mais  avec 
choix  &  avec  dessein  ;  que  sa  magnificence  paroisse  dans  son 
train,  dans  sa  livree  &  dans  le  reste  de  son  equipage ;  que  la 
proprete,  I'abondance,  &  meme  la  delicatesse,  regne  sur  sa 
table  :  qu'il  donne  souvent  des  fetes  &  des  divertissemens  aux 
principales  personnes  de  la  Cour  ou  il  se  trouve,  &  au  Prince 
meme,  s'il  est  d'humeur  a  y  prendre  part,  qu'il  tache  entrer 
^  Ibid.,  pp.  20-2.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  22,  23. 

Q  2 


228  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

dans  ses  parties  de  divertissemens,  mais  d'une  maniere  agreable 
&  sans  le  contraindre,  &  qu'il  y  apporte  toujours  un  air  ouvert, 
complaisant,  honnete  &  un  desir  continuel  de  lui  plaire. 

'  oi  I'usage  du  Pays  ou  il  se  trouve  lui  donne  un  libre  com- 
merce avec  les  Dames  ;  il  ne  doit  pas  negliger  de  se  les  rendre 
favorables  en  s'attachant  a  leur  plaisir  &  a  se  rendre  digne  de 
leur  estime,  le  pouvoir  de  leurs  charmes  s'etend  souvent 
jusqu'a  contribuer  aux  resolutions  les  plus  importantes  d'ou 
dependent  les  plus  grands  evenemens  ;  mais  .  .  .  il  doit  se 
souvenir  que  I'amour  est  d'ordinaire  accompagne  de  I'in- 
discretion  &  de  I'imprudence.'  ^ 

*  II  arrive  d'ordinaire  dans  les  negociations  ce  qui  arrive 
dans  la  guerre,  que  les  espions  bien  choisis  contribuent  plus 
que  toutes  choses  au  bon  succes  des  grandes  entreprises,  il 
n'y  a  rien  de  plus  capable  de  renverser  un  dessein  important 
qu'un  secret  evente  bien  a  propos  .  .  .  On  appelle  un  Ambas- 
sadeur  un  honorable  Espion.'  ^ 

4.  The  Need  for  Courage  and  Firmness :  Un  homme  de 
sangfroid : 

(a)  En  quels  cas  un  Ambassadeur  peut  temoigner  sa  hardiesse 
y  son  courage ;  ^  'II  est  vray  qu'il  doit  estre  pacifique,  doux, 
&  debonnaire,  pour  la  Cour  ou  il  est  envoye  Ambassadeur, 
mais  avec  telle  prudence,  que  quand  il  faut  contester  sur  des 
affaires  qu'il  ne  peut  accorder,  il  fasse  voir  qu'il  n'est  entier 
&  inflexible  qu'a  cause  de  sa  charge,  &  non  point  qu'il  soit 
anime  d'aucune  sorte  de  passion  .  .  .  S'il  se  sentoit  quelque 
peu  interesse,  non  en  la  personne,  mais  en  son  office,  il  doit 
user  de  hardiesse,  de  valeur,  &  de  Constance,  pour  repousser 
le  tort  qu'on  luy  voudroit  faire,  tant  contre  le  Roy  auquel  il 
fait  la  Cour,  que  contre  les  Ambassadeurs  des  autres  Princes 
concurrents,  en  les  satisfaisant  auparavant  de  son  bon  zele, 
&  puis  soutenir  &  defendre  genereusement  I'honneur  de  sa 
patrie,  ou  la  dignite  de  son  Roy,  iusques  a  perdre  la  vie,  car 
en  tel  cas  il  ne  violera  point  le  Droit-des-gens,  mais  il*  sera 
plutost  le  defenseur  du  mesme  Droit,  d'autant  qu'il  ne  souffre 
pas  seulement  qu'on  I'offense,  mais  il  empesche  que  personne 
n'y  preiudicie.'  * 

*  Calliires,  pp.  25-6.  "  Ibid..,  pp.  28-9,  30. 
'  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  p.  394,            .  *  Ibid.,  pp.  393-4. 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  229 

(b)  Of  Moderation ;  ^  *  I  do  not  here  mean  that  Moderatioity 
of  which  the  illustrious  Author  of  the  Reflections,  Sentences, 
and  moral  Maxims,  gives  so  excellent  a  Character,  and  of  which 
the  wisest  have  but  an  Appearance  ;  but  of  that  Phlegm 
and  Coolness,  either  study'd  or  natural,  which  is  so  necessary 
to  those  who  enter  upon  the  Management  of  publick  Affairs. 
I  do  not  pretend  to  act  the  Philosopher,  and  shall  content 
myself  with  saying.  That  Moderation,  whether  it  be  an 
Effect  or  a  part  of  Prudence,  is  a  Quality,  by  so  much  the  more 
requisite  to  the  Embassador,  as  he  that  does  not  possess 
himself,  gives  a  mighty  Advantage  to  him  with  whom  he 
negotiates.  Julius  Mazarin^  being  but  twenty  years  of  age, 
had  the  Address  to  put  the  Duke  of  Feriuy  Governor  of  Milan, 
into  a  Passion  ;  and  to  discover  by  that  Mean  his  true  Senti- 
ments. Those  Minds  that  are  compos'd  of  Salt-peter  and 
Sulphur,  which  the  least  Spark  sets  on  fire,  are  very  liable  to 
mar  Affairs  by  their  Transports,  because  it  is  an  easy  Matter 
to  excite  their  Anger,  and  put  them  in  a  Rage,  during  which 
they  know  not  what  they  do.'  ^ 

(f)  '  La  fermete  est  encore  une  qualite  tres-necessaire  a  un 
Negociateur,  quoique  le  droit  des  gens  le  doive  mettre  en 
surete  ;  il  y  a  cependant  diverses  occasions  ou  il  se  trouve 
en  peril,  &  ou  il  a  besoin  de  son  courage  pour  s'en  titer  &  pour 
faciliter  le  succes  de  ses  negociations ;  un  homme  ne  timide 
n'est  pas  capable  de  bien  conduire  de  grands  desseins ;  il  se 
laisse  ebranler  facilement  dans  les  accidens  imprevus,  la  peur 
pent  faire  decouvrir  son  secret  par  les  impressions  qu'elle 
fait  sur  son  visage,  &  par  le  trouble  qu'elle  cause  dans  ses 
discours.  .  .  .  L'irresolution  est  tres-prejudiciable  dans  la 
conduite  des  grandes  affaires  ;  il  y  faut  un  esprit  decisif,  qui 
apres  avoir  balance  les  divers  inconveniens,  sache  prendre 
son  parti  &  le  suivre  avec  fermete,'  ^ 

*  Un  homme  naturellement  violent  &  emporte,  est  peu 
propre  a  bien  conduire  une  grande  negociation.  .  .  .  Un  homme 
qui  se  possede  &  qui  est  toujours  de  sang  froid,  a  un  grand 
avantage  a  trailer  avec  un  homme  vif  &  plein  de  feu  ;    &  on 

*  Wicquefort,  bk.  i,  ch.  viii. 

^  Ibid.^  pp.  349-50.  Moderation  Is  *  the  same  Virtue  under  another 
Name  '  as  Prudence,  p.  350.  ^  Callieres,  pp.  31-2,  33. 


230  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

peut  dire  qu'ils  ne  combattent  pas  avec  armes  egales.  Pour 
reiissir  en  ces  sortes  d'emplois,  il  y  faut  beaucoup  moins  parler 
qu'ecouter ;  il  faut  du  flegme,  de  la  retenue,  beaucoup  de 
discretion  &  une  patience  a  toute  epreuve.'  ^ 

'  Nous  avons  eu  sur  d'autres  Nations  plus  Septentrionales 
que  la  notre,  cette  meme  superiorite  dans  I'art  de  negocier, 
que  les  Espagnols  &  les  Italiens  ont  eu  sur  nous,  en  quoi  il 
semble  que  le  degre  d'intelligence  ait  suivi  dans  I'Europe  le 
degre  de  chaleur  des  differens  climats.'  ^ 

5.  Machiavellianism^  and  Anti-Machiavellianism  :  Prudence 
and  Cunning  :   Ruse  and  Counter-ruse  : 

{a)  Comment  un  Ambassadeur  doit  proceder  entre  futile  if^ 
Vhonneste  *  .•  '  L'Ambassadeur  qui  voudra  prevenir  ces  incon- 
veniens,  doit  soigneusement  mesnager  le  temps,  soit  a  remarquer 
celuy  qu'il  doit  employer,  combien  il  vaut,  &  combien  il  luy 
oste.'  * 

De  la  menterie  officteuse :  [Louis ;]  '  le  vous  diray  que 
i'ay  appris  que  beaucoup  de  Chefs  de  guerre,  en  disant  ce 
qui  n'estoit  pas,  ont  garanty  leurs  armees  de  force  grands 

*  Calli^res,  pp.  40,  42.  '  Ibid.,  p.  43. 

'  '  II  faut  considerer  que  Machiavel  raisonne  en  tout  comme  Politique, 
c'est-i-dire  selon  I'lnterest  d'Etat,  qui  commande  aussi  absolument  aux 
Princes  que  les  Princes  k  leurs  sujets.* — Amelot,  Le  Prince  de  Nicolas 
Machiavel  (1683),  Preface. 

*  Le  Parjait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  218-29.  Cf.  Montaigne,  Essais,  liv.  iii, 
c.  i,  '  De  rUtile  et  de  I'Honneste  '  :  '  Personne  n'est  exempt  de  dire  des 
fadaises  ;  le  malheur  est  de  les  dire  curieusement  .  .  .  Le  prince,  quand  une 
urgente  circonstance,  et  quelque  impctueux  et  inopine  accident  du  besoing 
de  son  cstat,  luy  faict  gauchir  sa  parole  et  sa  foy,  ou  aultrement  le  iecte 
hors  de  son  debvoir  ordinaire,  doibt  attribuer  cette  necessite  a  un  coup  de 
la  verge  divine  :  vice  n'est  ce  pas,  car  il  a  quitte  sa  raison  k  une  plus  uni- 
verselle  et  puissante  raison  ;  mais,  certes,  c'est  malheur  :  de  maniere 
qu'A  quelqu'un  qui  me  demandoit,  "  Quel  remede  ?  " — "  Nul  remede  ", 
feis  ie,  s'il  feust  veritablement  gehenni  entre  ces  deux  extremes  ;  sed 
videat  ne  quaeratur  latebra  periurio,  il  le  falloit  faire  ;  mais  s'il  le  feit  sans 
regret,  s'il  ne  luy  greva  de  le  faire,  c'est  signe  que  sa  conscience  est  en 
mauvais  termes.  .  .  .  Ce  sont  dangereux  exemplcs,  rares  et  maladifves 
exceptions  k  nos  regies  naturellcs  ;  il  y  fault  ceder,  mais  avecques  grande 
moderation  et  circonspection  :  aulcune  utilite  privee  n'est  digne  pour 
laquelle  nous  facions  cet  effort  h  nostre  conscience  ;  la  publicque,  bien, 
lorsqu'elle  est  tresapparente  et  tresimportantc.' 

»  Ibid.,  p.  228. 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  231 

perils.      Plusieurs    Senateurs  ont   par   ce   moyen   appaise   les 
troubles  de  leur  Republique.    Les  Docteurs  d'Estat  conseillent 
aux  Princes,  que  s'ils  veulent  tromper  un  autre,  de  tromper 
premierement  I'Ambassadeur  qu'ils  luy  envoyent. . . .  Supposant 
que  les   Ambassadeurs   sont   des  instruments   animez,   il   me 
semble  qu'on  doit  laisser  agir  en  toute  liberte,  &  avec  une 
connoissance  certaine  de  la  fin  ou  I'on  pretend.     Or  en  ce 
qui  touche  la  menterie  qui  se  donne  par  le  superieur  a  I'in- 
ferieur,    encore    qu'il    en    puisse   reiissir    quelque    mal   pour 
I'affairer  il  luy  sera  toutefois  plus  loisible  d'en  user,  &  plus 
seur  pour  la   conscience ;    plus  loisible,  parce  que  ce  n'est 
pas  proprement  mentir,  &  plus  seur,  entant  que  comme  il 
pent    disposer    absolument    de    I'utilite,    il   pent    aussi    estre 
I'autheur  du  dommage  :    mais  du  moindre  au  plus  grand,  il 
n'est   loisible,   ny   asseure ;    &  i'estime   que   c'est   une   tres- 
pernicieuse  methode  de  servir,  de  laquelle  I'Ambassadeur  & 
toute  autre  sorte  de  Ministre,  se  doit  soigneusement  garder, 
parce  qu'il  perdroit  son  credit  aupres  de  son  Roy  des  I'heure 
que   sa   menterie   seroit   decouverte.'     [luU ;]    '  La   seconde 
fagon,  qui  est  de  taire  le  vray,  n'est  pas  si  odieuse,  car  outre 
qu'il  y  a  moins  de  peril,  on  se  peut  tousiours  excuser  sur  un 
pretexte  d'oubly,  ou  d'ignorance,  &  particulierement   quand 
le  Prince  ne  s'informe  pas  instamment,  &  de  propos  delibere, 
de  la  chose  que  I'on  cele  ;    toutefois  si  I'Ambassadeur  se  peut 
abstenir  de  I'un  &  de  I'autre,  il  n'en  fera  que  mieux.    Mais  lors 
que  I'Ambassadeur  rencontrera  un  heureux  succes  pour  avoir 
dit  ce  qui  n'estoit  pas,  ou  avoir  cele  ce  qui  estoit,  on  pourra 
dire  qu'il  aura  fait  un  bon  service  au  Roy,  mais  non  pas  que 
ce  service-la  soit  bon  pour  estre  allegue  dans  la  pretention 
d'une  recompense  :    &  si  TaflFaire  va   mal,  peut-estre  qu'on 
luy  en  imputera  la  faute,  pour  avoir  cele  le  veritable  :    Enfin, 
puis  que  la  perte  est  plus  evidente  que  le  gain,  &  que  cette 
diligence  est  officieuse,  &  non  de  devoir,  ce  seroit  une  finesse 
fort  extravagante  de  se  vouloir  hazarder  au  peril,  sans  aucune 
esperance  de  gloire.     le  soutiens  encore,  que  le  plus  certain 
en  tout,  c'est  de  rapporter  la  pure  verite  au  Prince  propre, 
sans  laisser  son  esprit  en  doute  dans  le  vray-semblable.    Dieu, 
qui  est  le  Prince  des  Princes,  a  dit  luy  mesme,  Qu'il  aymoit 
mieux  Vobeyssance  que  le  sacrifice.     L'Ambassadeur  est   tenu 


232  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

d'obeyr  a  I'article  de  son  instruction,  qui  luy  commande  de 
donner  advis  de  tout  ce  qui  se  passe,  sans  rien  retenir  en  son 
arbitrage,  quoy  qu'il  le  iugeast  pour  le  mieux  :  il  suffit  a  un 
Ministre  de  bien  accomplir  le  devoir  de  sa  charge,  sans  se 
mesler  d'autre  chose.'  ^ 

'  II  faut  qu'un  Ambassadeur  tienne  tousiours  sa  creance  en 
suspens,  &  qu'il  examine  iudicieusement  I'origine  de  ses  advis 
pour  discerner  les  bons  d'avec  les  mauvais.  Neantmoins  il 
doit  en  I'apparence  essayer  a  persuader  qu'il  les  croit,  &  avec 
telle  dexterite,  que  celuy  qui  seroit  venu  tout  expres  pour 
le  tromper,  s'en  retourne  trompe  soy-mesme  :  &  n'y  a  rien 
dequoy  1' Ambassadeur  se  doive  plus  garder  que  de  donner  a 
connoistre  qu'il  se  defie,  d'autant  que  plusieurs  qui  craignoient 
d'estre  trompez,  ont  eux-mesmes  donne  occasion  de  I'estre. 
Tybere  ne  voyoit  point  de  qualite  en  luy  plus  estimable  que 
sa  naturelle  dissimulation  qu'il  possedoit ;  ce  fut  aussi  celle 
qui  luy  aida  le  plus  a  regner,  a  ce  que  dit  Tacite.^  Bref,  de  la 
diversite  des  affections  que  1' Ambassadeur  reconnoist  en  divers 
sujets,  &  dans  la  variete  des  temps,  en  les  examinant  avec  un 
meur  iugement,  &  un  esprit  eveille,  il  doit  composer  un^ 
regie  certainey  if^  un  art  pour  comprendre  le  sens  des  paroles^  i^ 
penetrer  les  intentions  d^autruy.  Les  sciences  prindrent  ainsi 
leurs  commencemens  sur  la  prudente  consideration  des  choses 
particulieres,  parce  que  les  hommes  estans  curieux  d'en  re- 
marquer  les  ordinaires  evenements,  &  les  incertitudes  vindrent 
enfin  a  distinguer  le  necessaire  d'avec  le  fortuit,  &  de  cela 
composerent  une  science,  une  opinion,  ou  une  coniecture : 
&  les  Medecins  usans  de  mesme  consideration  aux  maladies 
particulieres  formerent  les  preceptes  de  leur  art,  &  les  doctrines 
universelles.  Cette  admirable  figure  de  Venus  que  fit  Zeuxis 
fut-elle  pas  composee  de  plusieurs  traits  de  differents  visages  ? 
aussi  acheva-t'il  un  ouvrage  qui  sembloit  surmonter  la  Nature ; 
car  il  mit  au  iour  une  beaute  parfaite.  De  mesme  I'Ambassa- 
deur,  en  voyant  beaucoup,  &  ecoutant  plusieurs  personnes, 

*  Le  Parjait  Ambassadeur^  pp.  297-8,  299-301.  See,  also,  Si  r Am- 
bassadeur peut  uzer  de  menterie  au  Prince  Estranger :  Instructions  sur  ce 
point,  pp.  304  sqq. ;  Exemple  (Tune  subtile  dexterite  de  certains  Ambassadeurs 
de  Florence  :   Ruse  &  contre-ruse,  pp.  315-19  ;  also  pp.  239  sqq. 

'  '  Tacite,  auteur  recommandable,  auquel  se  trouve  tout  ce  qui  est 
necessaire  ik  rendre  un  Prince  fort  experimente.' — Ibid.,  p.  242. 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  233 

considerant  tout,  &  ne  croyant  rien,  mais  donnant  une  impres- 
sion qu'il  croit,  il  trouve  le  vray,  &  n'est  iamais  surpris :  car 
d'attendre  le  succes  des  choses  pour  en  tirer  de  I'instruction, 
c'est  tout  le  mal-heur  de  I'Ambassade ;  &  a  ce  que  dit  Quintus 
Fabius,  Le  succes  est  le  maistre  des  sots,  qui  ne  reconnoissent 
iamais  quHls  sont  trompez  que  quand  ils  le  voyent  avec  les  yeux, 
y  qums  le  touchent  avec  les  mains.^  ^ 

(b)  Of  Prudence  and  Cunning ;  ^  '  I  have  said  that  the  Em- 
bassador in  receiving  his  Prince's  Orders,  ought  to  consult 
his  Prudence  before  he  executes  them.  I  shall  add  in  this, 
that  it  ought  to  serve  him  for  a  North  Pole  in  the  whole  course 
of  his  Negotiation.  It  is  she  alone  can  make  it  successful, 
and  it  is  she  alone  is  capable  of  forming  a  perfect  Embassador. 
She  holds  the  first  Rank  among  politick  Virtues,  and  can  alone 
supply  all  that  is  wanting  in  the  Embassador  ;  so  that  one  may 
say  very  well  with  the  Poet,  Nullum  numen  abest  si  sit  Pru- 
dential ...  It  is  a  Stroke  of  the  most  refin'd  Prudence,  to  make 
it  believ'd  that  one  neglects  those  Things  which  one  most 
desires ;  that  one  looks  upon  them  with  Indifferency,  and 
that  even  one  has  some  Aversion  for  them.  If  I  might  be 
allow'd  to  make  use  of  the  familiar  Comparison  of  the  Rowers, 
who  turn  their  Backs  to  the  Place  they  design  to  land  at,  I  think 
it  may  be  very  well  apply'd  here.  Cardinal  Mazarin  help'd 
himself  wonderfully  by  this  Artifice,  and  he  gave  an  excellent 
Proof  thereof,  at  the  Congress  of  the  Pyrenees.*  .  .  .  There  is 
a  species  of  Address,  that  is  rather  Roguery  than  either 
Cunning  or  Artifice.^  ...  A  publick  Minister  .  .  .  ought  to  be 
above  those  little  Cunnings  and  Duplicities,  which  are  only 
the  Products  of  a  weak  and  ill  turn'd  Mind.  .  .  .  The  Prudence 
of  an  Embassador  consists  chiefly  in  knowing  how  to  elude 
the  cunning  Strokes  of  others,  and  to  avoid  the  Snares  that 
are  prepared  for  him.^  .  .  .  Prudence  has  so  vast  an  Object, 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  269-70. 

^  Wicquefort,  bk.  ii,  ch.  vi,  pp.  329-39. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  329. 

*  p.  331.    See  the  preceding  words  for  the  historical  illustration. 

^  P-  333- 

*  P-  335-  '  We  take  cunning  for  a  sinister,  or  crooked  wisdom  ;  and 
certainly  there  is  a  great  difference  between  a  cunning  man  and  a  wise 
man,  not  only  in  point  of  honesty,  but  in  point  of  ability.    There  be  that 


234  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

that  one  may  say  it  is  almost  infinite.  The  Embassador  ought 
not  only  to  consider  that  the  Principles  of  Reasoning  in  PoUcy 
are  as  uncertain  as  those  of  the  Mathematicks  are  infallible  ; 
but  he  ought  to  know  also,  that  the  strongest  Reasons,  and 
which  are  in  a  manner  demonstrative,  are  not  always  con- 
cluding. .  .  .  There  are  numberless  Advices  to  be  given  to  an 
Embassador  on  the  account  of  Prudence  ;  but  I  dare  be  bold 
to  say,  that  there  is  no  need  to  give  any  to  a  Minister  to  whom 
this  Virtue  is  natural,  or  acquir'd  by  a  long  Habit.  He  forms 
his  Conduct  on  his  own  Maxims,  and  behaves  himself  as 
Occasions  seem  to  require.'  ^ 

(f)  Advice  Jot  one  '  destined  for  the  foreign  lin£  '  ^  .•  *  It  is 
not  an  easy  matter,  in  times  like  these,  to  write  anything  on 
the  subject  of  a  Foreign  Minister's  conduct,  that  might  not 
be  rendered  quite  inapplicable  to  the  purpose  of  daily  events. 
Mr.  James's  best  school  will  be  the  advantage  he  will  derive 
from  the  abilities  of  his  Principal,  and  from  his  own  observa- 
tions. 

'  The  first  and  best  advice  I  can  give  a  young  man  on 
entering  this  career,  is  to  listen^  not  to  talk — at  least,  not  more 
than  is  necessary  to  induce  others  to  talk.  I  have  in  the  course 
of  my  life,  by  endeavouring  to  follow  this  method,  drawn  from 
my  opponents  much  information,  and  concealed  from  them 
my  own  views,  much  more  than  by  the  employment  of  spies 
or  money. 

'  To  be  very  cautious  in  any  country,  or  at  any  Court,  of 
such  as,  on  your  first  arrival,  appear  the  most  eager  to  make 

can  pack  the  cards,  and  yet  cannot  play  well ;  so  there  are  some  that 
are  good  in  canvasses  and  factions  that  are  otherwise  weak  men.' — Bacon, 
Essays,  '  Of  Cunning  '. 

^  Wicquefort,  p.  338.  See,  further,  bk.  i,  ch.  vii,  '  Of  the  Liberty  of 
Speaking ',  pp.  339-49. 

*  '  Letter '  of  the  First  Earl  of  Malmcsbury  '  to  Lord  Camden,  written 
at  his  request  on  his  nephew,  Mr.  James,  being  destined  for  the  foreign 
line',  April  11,  1813,  Diaries  and  Correspondence  of  James  Harris,  First 
Earl  of  Malmesbury,  iv,  pp.  412-15.  Counsel  of  a  kind  more  directly 
practical  is  conveyed  in  Quelques  Conseils  a  un  jeune  Voyageur,  par  Le 
Comte  d'Hauterive,  and  in  Instructions  de  M,  de  Colbert,  ecrites  de  sa 
main  :  Memoire  pour  mon  fils,  sur  ce  qu'il  doit  observer  pendant  le  voyage 
qu'il  vafaire  d  Rocbefort,  for  which  see  Martens,  Guide  diplomatique,  edition 
hy  Hoffman  (1838),  i,  and  part,  pp.  393-452. 


i 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  235 

your  acquaintance  and  communicate  their  ideas  to  you. 
I  have  ever  found  their  professions  insincere,  and  their  intelli- 
gence false.  They  have  been  the  first  I  have  v^ished  to  shake 
off,  whenever  I  have  been  so  imprudent  as  to  give  them  credit 
for  sincerity.  They  are  either  persons  who  are  not  considered 
or  respected  in  their  own  country,  or  are  put  about  you  to 
entrap  and  circumvent  you  as  newly  arrived. 

'  Englishmen  should  be  most  particularly  on  their  guard 
against  such  men,  for  we  have  none  such  on  our  side  the 
water,  and  are  ourselves  so  little  coming  towards  foreigners, 
that  we  are  astonished  and  gratified  when  we  find  a  different 
treatment  from  that  which  strangers  experience  here  ;  but 
our  reserve  and  ill  manners  are  infinitely  less  dangerous  to  the 
stranger  than  these  premature  and  hollow  civilities. 

'To  avoid  what  is  termed  abroad  an  attachment.  If  the  other 
party  concerned  should  happen  to  be  sincere,  it  absorbs  too 
much  time,  occupies  too  much  your  thoughts ;  if  insincere, 
it  leaves  you  at  the  mercy  of  a  profligate,  and  probably 
interested  character. 

'Never  to  attempt  to  export  English  habits  and  manners, 
but  to  conform  as  far  as  possible  to  those  of  the  country  where 
you  reside — to  do  this  even  in  the  most  trivial  things — to 
learn  to  speak  their  language,  and  never  to  sneer  at  what  may 
strike  you  as  singular  and  absurd.  Nothing  goes  to  conciliate 
so  much,  or  to  amalgamate  you  more  cordially  with  its  in- 
habitants, as  this  very  easy  sacrifice  of  your  national  prejudices 
to  theirs. 

*To  keep  your  cypher  and  all  your  official  papers  under 
a  very  secure  lock  and  key  ;  but  not  to  boast  of  your  pre- 
cautions as  Mr.  Drake  did  to  Mehee  de  la  Touche. 

'  Not  to  allow  any  opponent  to  carry  away  any  official 
document,  under  the  pretext  that  he  wishes  "  to  study  it 
more  carefully  "  ;  let  him  read  it  as  often  as  he  wishes,  and, 
if  it  is  necessary,  allow  him  to  take  minutes  of  it,  but  both  in 
your  presence. 

'  Not  to  be  carried  away  by  any  real  or  supposed  distinctions 
from  the  Sovereign  at  whose  Court  you  reside,  or  to  imagine, 
because  he  may  say  a  few  more  commonplace  sentences  to 
you   than   to  your   colleagues,   that   he   entertains   a   special 


236  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

personal  predilection  for  you,  or  is  more  disposed  to  favour 
the  views  and  interests  of  your  Court,  than  if  he  did  not  notice 
you  at  all.  This  is  a  species  of  royal  stage-trick,  often  practised, 
and  for  which  it  is  right  to  be  prepared. 

*  Whenever  you  receive  discretionary  instructions  (that  is, 
when  authority  is  given  you),  in  order  to  obtain  any  very 
desirable  end,  to  decrease  your  demands  or  increase  your 
concessions,  according  as  you  find  the  temper  and  disposition 
of  the  Court  where  you  are  employed,  and  to  be  extremely 
careful  not  to  let  it  be  supposed  that  you  have  any  such 
authority  ;  to  make  a  firm,  resolute  stand  on  the  first  offer 
you  are  instructed  to  make,  and,  if  you  find  "  this  nail  will  not 
drive  ",  to  bring  forward  your  others  mo^  gradually^  and  not, 
either  from  an  apprehension  of  not  succeeding  at  all,  or  from 
an  over  eagerness  to  succeed  too  rapidly,  injure  essentially  the 
interests  of  your  Court. 

*  It  is  scarce  necessary  to  say  that  no  occasion,  no  provoca- 
tion, no  anxiety  to  rebut  an  unjust  accusation,  no  idea,  however 
tempting,  of  promoting  the  object  you  have  in  view,  can 
needy  much  less  justify,  a  falsehood.  Success  obtained  by  one, 
is  a  precarious  and  baseless  success.  Detection  would  ruin, 
not  only  your  own  reputation  for  ever,  but  deeply  wound  the 
honour  of  your  Court.  If,  as  frequently  happens,  an  indiscreet 
question,  which  seems  to  require  a  distinct  answer,  is  put  to 
you  abruptly  by  an  artful  Minister,  parry  it  either  by  treating 
it  as  an  indiscreet  question,  or  get  rid  of  it  by  a  grave  and 
serious  look ;  but  on  no  account  contradict  the  assertion 
flatly  if  it  be  true,  or  admit  it  as  true,  if  false  and  of  a  dangerous 
tendency. 

*  In  Ministerial  conferences,  to  exert  every  effort  of  memory 
to  carry  away  faithfully  and  correctly  what  you  hear  (what  you 
say  in  them  yourself  you  will  not  forget)  ;  and  in  drawing 
your  report,  to  be  most  careful  it  should  be  faithful  and 
correct.  I  dwell  the  more  on  this  (seemingly  a  useless)  hint, 
because  it  is  a  most  seducing  temptation,  and  one  to  which 
we  often  give  way  almost  unconsciously,  in  order  to  give  a 
better  turn  to  a  phrase,  or  to  enhance  our  skill  in  negotiation  ; 
but  we  must  remember  we  mislead  and  deceive  our  Govern- 
ment by  it.' 


Qualities  of  the  Diplomatist  237 

6.  Miscellaneous  Considerations  : 

(a)  Qu'un  Ambassadeur  doit  estre  sobre,  iff  s^abstenir  des 
mets  exquis :  Qu'il  se  devoit  abstenir  de  boire  du  vin  aux  ban- 
quets:  '  L'Ambassadeur  peut  bien  banqueter  aux  occasions 
convenables,  comme  aussi  se  trouver  aux  banquets  des  autres, 
mais  sur  tout,  ie  luy  conseillerois  de  s'accoustumer  a  ne  point 
boire  de  vin,  ou  pour  le  moins  qu'il  s'en  abstint  en  ces  ren- 
contres la  ;  mais  s'il  y  a  des  incommoditez  particulieres  qui 
le  requierent,  on  use  auiourd'huy  fort  communement  de 
certains  breuvages  composez  de  simples  si  admirables,  que  le 
vin  ne  peut  pas  causer  un  meilleur  effet  aux  parties  necessi- 
teuses  de  sa  vertu,  II  y  a  plusieurs  exemples  qui  nous  appren- 
nent  que  le  vin  a  este  le  moyen  far  ou  beaucoup  d"* Ambassadeurs 
se  sont  perdus,  iff  par  qui  les  ennemis  ont  beaucoup  gagne^  ^ 

(b)  Whether  Clergymen  are  proper  for  Embassies  :  ^  '  The 
Author  of  the  Idea  of  the  perfect  Embassador,  declares  for  the 
affirmative,  and  backs  his  Opinion  with  several  Examples 
taken  out  of  the  Bible,  and  from  History.  ...  I  shall  not 
enquire  into  the  Justness  of  the  Examples ;  but  I  think  I  may 
say,  he  alledges  very  few  that  square  with  his  Intention.  .  .  . 
I  cannot  conceive  how  a  Bishop,  who  is  able  to  make  himself 
respected  at  the  Court  of  a  Christian  Potentate,  can  submit 
to  be  employ'd  in  that  of  Constantinople,  and  that  to  an 
Infidel,  who  ought  to  be  his  abomination.*  .  .  .  Formerly, 
while  Superstition  and  Ignorance  reign'd,  the  Religious  were 
respected  ;  but  the  Habit,  and  demure  Mien,  have  long  since 
lost  their  Influence,  and  the  World  will  be  no  longer  deceived 
thereby  :  on  the  contrary,  it  is  not  without  scruple,  they  are 
at  present  treated  with  ;  and  there  is  a  continual  Distrust  of 
their  equivocal  Meanings,  as  well  as  of  the  Intention  of  those 
Princes  that  employ  them.  They  have  not  the  Quality  of 
Embassadors,  because  the  Representation  would  participate  of 
the  Ridicule  :  But  whether  they  have  Letters  of  Credence,  or 
that  they  are  credited  on  their  bare  Word  ;  if  they  are  negotiated 
with,  tho'  they  have  not  the  Character  of  publick  Ministers, 
they  nevertheless  enjoy  the  Protection  of  the  Law  of  Nations  :   as 

^  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  388-9. 

^  Wicquefort,  bk.  i,  ch.  ix.    Cf.  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  54-5, 167-8. 

3  Jbid.,  pp.  57,  63. 


238  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

on  the  other  side,  they  cannot  be  too  severely  punish'd  if 
they  abuse  their  Habit  and  Profession,  to  contrive  Treasons 
and  Assassinations ;  with  which  one  might  fill  up  several 
Volumes.  Father  Joseph,  who  assisted  Leon  Brulard  to  con- 
clude the  Treaty  of  Ratisbon,  had  no  Character.'  ^ 

(c)  Si  r Ambassadeur  se  pent  servir  de  V entremise  des  femmes 
pour  le  progrez,  de  ses  affaires  :  ^ 

lule  :  *  Mais  s'il  vous  plaist,  Seigneur  Louis,  seroit-ce  chose 
licite  &  digne  de  la  gravite  d'un  Ministre  qui  voudroit  avoir 
quelques  advis  de  se  servir  de  I'entremise  &  de  la  curiosite  de 
quelques  femmes  ?  car  elles  ont  la  reputation  de  ne  pouvoir 
garder  aucun  secret.' 

Louis :  *  Entant  que  Taction  que  vous  dites  fust  d'enquerir 
&  de  penetrer  dans  les  mouvements  de  I'esprit  du  Prince  &  de 
ses  Ministres,  on  ne  devroit  pas  blamer  un  Ambassadeur  qui 
essayeroit  d'y  parvenir  par  tous  les  moyens  licites  ;•  au  con- 
traire,  celuy  la  commetroit  une  grande  faute  qui  auroit 
I'humeur  si  severe,  que  de  mepriser  ces  bons  effects  la,  a  cause 
qu'ils  procedent  de  I'entremise  de  quelques  femmes,  puis 
que  par  leur  moyen  comme  on  void  en  beaucoup  d'exemples, 
on  a  decouvert  les  plus  grandes  coniurations  &  les  plus  secrettes 
entreprises  qui  furent  iamais  faite.'  ^ 

Doute,  si  les  femmes  peuvent  estre  Ambassatrices  *  .• 

Louis :  *  C'est  pourtant  a  ce  poinct  la  que  ie  voudrois 
limiter  leur  entreprise  dans  les  affaires  d'Estat,  car  ie  ne 
consentirois  iamais  comme  vous  qu'on  leur  donnast  la  dignite 
de  I'Ambassade  :  &  m'estonne  beaucoup  de  ce  que  Paschalius 
a  este  d'advis  contraire,  veu  qu'il  a  si  peu  de  gens  de  son  party. 
.  .  .  Et  sans  doute  les  larmes  d'une  fiUe,  &  la  presence  des 
enfans  aux  pieds  du  pere  ou  de  I'ayeul,  feront  de  plus  puissants 
effects  que  I'Oraison  de  Demosthenes  envers  Philapa  :  mais 
ce  sera  comme  fille,  &  non  pas  comme  Ambassatrice.  Car  ie 
vous  prie,  Seigneur  lule,  seroit-il  bien  seant  a  un  Ambassadeur 
de  pleurer  ;  &  ses  pleurs  pcurroient-elles  amolir  le  coeur  d'un 
Prince  irrite  ? '  ^ 

*  Wicquefort,  p.  67.  *  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  p.  282. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  282-3.    Exetnples  de  plusieurs  grands  secrets  revelez  par  les 
femmes,  pp.  283-4.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  286-90. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  286,  289-90.    There  is  one  instance  of  a  woman  being  duly 


the  Conduct  of  Negotiations  239 


The  Conduct  of  Negotiations 

De  Vutilite  des  Negociations :  ^  '  Pour  bien  connoitre  de 
quelle  utilite  peuvent  etre  les  negociations,  il  faut  considerer 
que  tous  les  Etats  dont  I'Europe  est  composee,  ont  entr'eux 
des  liaisons  &  des  commerces  necessaires  qui  font  qu'on  peut 
les  regarder  comme  des  membres  d'une  meme  Republique, 
&  qu'il  ne  peut  presque  point  arriver  de  changement  conside- 
rable en  quelques-uns  de  ses  membres  qui  ne  soit  capable  de 
troubler  le  repos  de  tous  les  autres.  Les  demelez  des  moindres 
Souverains  jettent  d'ordinaire  de  la  division  entre  les  princi- 
pales  Puissances,  a  cause  des  divers  interets  qu'elles  y  prennent, 
&  de  la  protection  qu'elles  donnent  aux  partis  differens  & 
opposez.^  .  .  .  Le  Cardinal  de  Richelieu  qu'on  peut  proposer 
pour  modele  aux  plus  grands  Politiques,  &  a  qui  la  France 
est  si  redevable,  faisoit  negocier  sans  cesse  en  toute  sorte  de 
Pays,  &  il  en  a  tire  de  tres-grandes  utilitez  pour  I'Etat,  comme 
il  le  temoigne  lui-meme  dans  son  Testament  politique.' ' 

Observations  sur  les  tnanieres  de  negocier  * ;  '  On  negocie  de 
vive  voix  ou  par  ecrit,  la  premiere  maniere  est  d'un  plus  grand 
usage  dans  les  Cours  des  Princes,  la  seconde  est  plus  usitee 
quand  on  traite  avec  des  Republiques  ou  dans  des  assemblies 
comme  sont  les  Diettes  de  I'Empire,  celles  des  Suisses,  les 
conferences  pour  la  paix  &  autres  assemblees  de  Ministres 
chargez  de  pleins  pouvoirs. 

'  II  est  plus  avantageux  a  un  habile  Negociateur  de  negocier 
de  vive  voix,  parce  qu'il  a  plus   d'occasions  de  decouvrir  par 

Invested  with  the  title  and  the  role  of  Ambassadress,  namely,  Renee  du 
Bee,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Regent,  Anne  of  Austria,  Ambassadress 
of  France  on  a  matrimonial  mission  to  the  Court  of  the  King  of  Poland, 
Wladislaw  IV,  in  1645.  There  are  notable  instances  of  women  being 
entrusted  with  the  conduct  of  negotiations.  Thus,  Louise  of  Savoy,  in 
behalf  of  Francis  I  of  France,  and  Margaret,  of  Austria,  in  behalf  of  her 
nephew,  the  Emperor  Charles  V,  conducted  the  final  negotiations  resulting 
in  the  Peace  of  Cambray — '  la  Paix  des  Dames  ' — in  1529 ;  and  Henrietta, 
Duchess  of  Orleans,  conducted  negotiations  between  her  brother  Charles  II 
and  Louis  XIV,  and  concluded  the  Treaty  of  Dover,  in  1670. 

^  Callieres,  ch.  ii,  pp.  8-18.  ^  Ibid.,  pp.  8-9.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  12. 

*  Ibid.,  ch.  xvi,  pp.  160-72. 


240  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

ce  moyen  les  sentimens  &  les  desseins  de  ceux  avec  qui  il  traite, 
&  d'employer  sa  dexterite  a  leur  en  inspirer  de  conformes 
a  ses  vues  par  ses  insinuations  &  par  la  force  de  ses  raisons.'  * 

'  C'est  un  des  plus  grands  secrets  de  I'art  de  negocier  que 
de  savoir,  pour  ainsi  dire,  distiler  goute  a  goute  dans  I'esprit 
de  ceux  avec  qui  on  negocie  les  choses  qu'on  a  interet  de  leur 
persuader.'  ^ 

*  Un  esprit  agreable,  net  &  cclaire,  qui  a  Part  de  proposer 
les  plus  grandes  affaires  comme  des  choses  faciles  &  avantageuses 
aux  parties  interessees  &  qui  le  sait  faire  d'une  maniere  aisee 
&  insinuante,  a  fait  plus  de  la  moitie  de  son  ouvrage,  &  trouve 
de  grandes  facilitez  a  I'achever.'  ^ 

S'x7  est  utile  d^ envoy er plusieurs  Negociateurs  en  un  nieme  Pays :  * 
*  Le  Cardinal  de  Richelieu  ne  se  contentoit  pas  d'employer 
plusieurs  Negociateurs  pour  une  meme  affaire,  il  partageoit 
souvent  entr'eux  le  secret  de  ses  desseins  &  il  faisoit  mouvoir 
divers  ressorts  pour  les  faire  reiissir. 

*  Outre  les  Ministres  publics  qu'il  envoyoit  dans  chaque 
pays,  il  y  entretenoit  encore  souvent  des  Agens  secrets  &  des 
Pensionnaires  du  pays  meme  qui  I'avertissoient  de  tout  ce 
qui  s'y  passoit  independamment  &  sans  la  participation  des 
Ambassadeurs  du  Roi,  qui  ignoroient  souvent  les  Commissions 
de  ces  Emissaires,  &  ils  lui  rendoient  compte  de  la  conduite 
de  ces  Ambassadeurs,  aussi-bien  que  de  ce  qui  se  passoit  dans  la 
Cour  ou  ils  etoient ;  ce  qui  faisoit  que  rien  n'echappoit  a  ses 
lumieres,  &  qu'il  etoit  en  etat  de  redresser  les  Ambassadeurs 
qui  manquoient  en  quelque  chose  par  leur  mauvaise  conduite 
ou  par  defaut  de  penetration.'  * 

Des  negociations  diplomatiques • ;  'En  principe  les  gouver- 
nements  seuls  negocient,  et  I'agent  diplomatique  n'est  que 
I'organe  de  celui  qui  I'a  nomme.  Les  instructions'^  qu'il  a 
revues  dirigent  sa  conduite  ;  il  n'a  la  faculte  ni  d'accorder, 
ni  de  refuser,  ni  de  transiger  sans  y  etre  autorise.  .  .  .  Sa  tache 
n'est  point  circonscrite  dans  des  limites  si  6troites  qu'il  ne 

*  Calliires,  pp.  160-1.  *  Ibid.,  p.  162. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  167-8.  See,  further,  the  next  chapter — xvii — 'Avis  aux 
Ambassadeurs  et  autres  Ministres  qui  negocient  dans  les  pays  etrangers.' 

*  Ibid.,  ch.  xxiii,  pp.  241-6.  '  Ibid.,  p.  246. 

*  Martens  (Charles  de),  Le  Guide  diplomatique,  i,  pp.  184-91. 
'  Ibid,  ii,  pp.  245-65. 


the  Conduct  of  Negotiations  241 

puisse  s'y  mouvoir  avec  une  liberte  intelligente  ;  et,  au  besoin, 
pourvu  qu'il  ait  toujours  presents  a  1' esprit  les  droits  et  les 
interets  de  son  commettant,  il  peut  prendre  sur  lui,  dans  telles 
circonstances  epineuses  et  imprevues,  d'outre-passer  la  lettre 
de  ses  instructions,  sachant  en  apprecier  1' esprit.  Dans  toutes 
discussions  d'ailleurs  il  y  a  une  part  a  faire  aux  choses  de  forme, 
aux  interpretations,  aux  moyens  :  cette  part  est  dans  la  latitude 
d'action  necessaire  a  lui  qui  doit  agir.  .  .  . 

'  Aucune  negociation  ne  serait  conduite  a  bonne  fin  si  le 
ministre  se  laissait  decourager  en  voyant  echouer  des  plans 
qui  n'auraient  pas  ete  proposes  avec  assez  de  prudence,  soutenus 
avec  assez  de  fermete,  ou  dont  le  succes  ne  serait  pas  seconde 
par  les  circonstances ;  ou  s'il  prenait  trop  facilement  I'alarme 
en  voyant  surgir  tout  a  coup  des  propositions  ou  des  demandes 
inattendues :  celles-ci,  quoique  soutenues  d'abord  avec  toutes 
les  apparences  d'une  determination  invariable,  finissent,  tot 
ou  tard,  par  ceder  a  la  dexterite  du  diplomate  qui  salt  opposer 
froidement  une  resistance  superieure  a  I'attaque.'  ^ 

'  Les  lenteurs  habituelles  des  negociations  politiques,  leurs 
complications  souvent  calculees,  les  insinuations  captieuses  ou 
le  defaut  de  franchise  inquietent  parfois  et  fatiguent  le  nego- 
ciateur,  en  mettant  a  I'epreuve  sa  fermete  et  sa  patience.  Ces 
qualites  lui  sont  indispensables,  mais  il  ne  faut  pas  qu'elles 
s'exagerent  jusqu'a  tourner  en  brusquerie  ou  en  indolence  ; 
le  calme  et  la  perseverance  ne  suffisent  pas  seuls  dans  I'art  de 
negocier,  non  plus  que  la  capacite  et  1' experience,  les  formes 
aussi  contribuent  au  succes.'  ^ 

'  Comme  il  existe  entre  les  ministres  publics  accredites 
a  une  meme  cour  un  commerce  reciproque  d'avis  et  de  nouvelles, 
il  leur  faut  necessairement  se  preter  a  cet  echange  de  confiance  ; 
le  plus  habile  est  celui  qui  en  tire  le  plus  d'utilite.  C'est  au 
savoir-faire  de  chacun  a  former  des  liaisons  qui  le  mettent  a 
meme  de  recueillir  le  plus  de  renseignements  utiles  et  d'appre- 
cier  leur  authenticite ;  a  chacun  aussi,  s'il  ne  s'agit  pas 
seulement  d'avis  a  donner  mais  d'insinuations  a  faire,  de  ne 
pas  confondre  ses  sentiments  personnels  avec  ceux  que  la 
politique  inspire  a  son  souverain. 

'  Le  n6gociateur  ne  doit  pas  perdre  de  vue  que,  quelle  que 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  186^7,  187-8.  2  7^,-^^^  p   igg^ 

2224  „ 


242  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

soit  I'intimite  qui  existe  entre  deux  cours,  quelque  etroits 
que  soient  leurs  liens  politiques,  et  meme  de  famille,  elles  ont  des 
interets  separes,  souvent  meme  opposes,  cause  toujours  latente 
de  refroidissement  possible,  et  peut-etre  meme  de  rupture. 

' .  .  .  L'exercice  de  cet  art  [de  negocier]  depend  moins  peut- 
etre  des  qualites  personnelles  que  de  la  connoissance  du  monde 
et  de  I'experience  des  affaires.  Les  talens  naturels  doivent 
etre  developpes  par  I'etude  de  I'histoire,  et  specialement  de 
I'histoire  des  negociations  diplomatiques ;  mais  leur  absence  se 
remplacerait  difficilement  par  le  savoir  qui  ne  serait  puise  que 
dans  les  livres.'  ^ 

Diplomatic  Correspondence :  Instructions  ;  Letters  and  Dis- 
patches ;  Cipher :  '  II  [I'Ambassadeur]  doit  sur  toutes  choses 
estre  pourveu  de  lettres  de  creance,  car  sans  cela,  encore  qu'il 
soit  accompagne  de  tous  les  temoins  &  de  toutes  les  preuves 
du  monde,  un  Prince  n'est  pas  oblige,  en  matiere  d'affaires 
publics,  de  croire  une  personne  privee,  quelque  illustre  & 
grande  qu'elle  puisse  estre,  exceptant  de  cette  regie  I'Ambas- 
sadeur a  latere,  lequel  par  privilege  particulier,  est  creu  par 
soy-mesme  ;   tous  les  autres  ont  besoin  de  lettre  de  creance.'  ^ 

'  Lettre  de  Creance  du  Pape  Leon  aux  Suysses  :  le  vous 
envoye  Goro,  mon  serviteur,  dont  ie  fais  graride  estime,  ajin 
qu'estant  en  vostre  compagnie,  ilfasse  V office  d'Ambassadeur  if^  de 
mediateur  envers  vous.  Et  en  cette  qualite,  vous  pourrez  adiouster 
autant  de  joy  ^  de  creance  a  tout  ce  qu'il  vous  dira,  que  vous 
feriez  a  moy-mesme,  si  i^estois  present^  ^ 

*  Les  lettres  de  Creance  se  presentent  ordinairement  en  la 
premiere  audience.'  * 

*  Comment  les  instructions  doivent  estre  dressees  :  [Louis  ;]  II 
n'y  a  point  de  reigles  precises  pour  ce  regard,  les  instructions 
seront  comme  les  luy  voudra  donner  celuy  qui  en  aura  la 
charge  du  Prince.    Ie  ne  vous  puis  satisfaire  autrement  sur  ce 

f)oint  la  ;   d'autant  que  nostre  argument  ne  tend  pas  a  former 
e  Prince  en  son  commandement,  mais  seulement  de  figurer 

'  Martens,  pp.  190-1.  *  Le  Parfait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  ^2°~^- 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  433-4.    See  other  specimens,  pp.  434-5. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  435.  '  Si  TAmbassadeur  doit  parler  de  ses  affaires  en  la  pre- 
miere Audience  ',  pp.  444-5.  '  Ne  seroit-il  pas  besoin  d'advertir  nostre 
Ambassadeur,  de  prendre  garde  a  ne  pas  tomber  en  I'inconvenient  d'un 
qui  demanda  k  boire  en  la  premiere  audience  i  '  p-  445 


the  Conduct  of  Negotiations  243 

un  parfait  Ambassadeur  en  I'obeissance.  le  vous  diray  toute- 
fois,  que  I'instruction  d'un  Ambassadeur  est  comme  une 
carte  de  navigation,  par  laquelle  il  doit  regir  &  conduire  tous 
ses  mouvemens.'  ^ 

'  Que  fusage  du  chiffre  est  fort  necessaire  a  V Ambassadeur : 
Le  plus  seur  chemin  pour  donner  des  advis,  c'est  le  chiffre, 
principalement  quand  I'on  a  des  choses  d'importance  a  escrire, 
tant  pour  la  qualite  de  I'affaire  que  pour  le  secret  deu  a  celuy 
qui  donne  I'advis,  parce  qu'on  doit  tousiours  presumer  le 
pire  de  ce  qui  peut  arriver  :  Et  pour  fidelle  que  soit  un 
courrier,  il  peut  estre  devalise,  ses  lettres  ouvertes,  &  les 
affaires  decouvertes,  si  I'usage  du  chiffre  n'en  divertit  la  con- 
noissance.  C'est  I'unique  moyen  pour  eviter  ces  dangers-la, 
&  la  pratique  en  est  fort  ancienne  aux  lettres  des  Roys  &  des 
Ministres  d'Estat.  On  tient  que  les  Egyptiens  en  sont  les 
inventeurs,  parce  qu'ils  expliquoient  leurs  conceptions  avec 
diverses  figures  &  caracteres.  Mecenas  estoit  fort  habile  en 
cette  science  ;  lule  Cesar,  Caius  Opius,  Baldus  &  Cornelius 
en  userent  en  tous  leurs  depesches  pour  les  garentir  de  tous 
inconvenients  :  Et  depuis  ce  temps-la,  I'usage  en  a  continue 
iusques  a  cet  heure,  si  bien  que  cette  science  est  arrivee  au  plus 
haut  degre  de  sa  perfection,  tant  en  la  partie  active,  comme 
en  la  passive  ;  puisque  1' esprit  humain  ne  scauroit  dechiffrer 
de  si  difiiciles  figures,  que  le  mesme  esprit  n'en  invente  encore 
de  plus  obscures,  en  faisant  que  les  nombres  soyent  des  lettres, 
&  les  lettres  des  dictions  :  que  les  noms  propres  soyent  des 
affaires  particulieres ;  les  animez  d'une  signification,  &  les 
inanimez  d'une  autre.  Outre  cela,  les  Ambassadeurs  ont  des 
clefs,  desquels  si  I'on  ne  connoit  les  gardes,  il  est  impossible 
d'entrer  dans  leurs  secrets.  lis  usent  encore  de  certains 
patrons  qui  decouvrent  a  ceux  qui  les  connoissent  tout  ce 
qui  est  d'important,  &  cachent  ce  qui  est  superflu  ;  si  bien 
que  celuy  qui  regardera  une  lettre,  autrement  que  par  cette 
ialousie,  il  la  treuvera  toute  pleine  d'enigme  &  de  confusion, 
&  si  elle  est  formee  par  un  bon  esprit,  il  sera  fort  difficile  qu'un 
autre  y  puisse  rien  connoistre.'  ^ 

^  Ihid.^  p.  447.    See,  further,  pp.  W'j-tfi. 

*  Ihid.^  pp.  467-9.  *  Accidents  advenus  faute  de  se  servir  des  chlffres  ', 
pp.  469-70 ;   and  pp.  472-3  on  instructions  in  cipher. 

R  2 


244  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

Le  Secret :  *  Le  secret  est  encore  expressement  recommande 
en  toutes  les  actions  du  Parfait  Ambassadeur  ;  c'est  le  fonde- 
ment  de  I'edifice,  le  timon  du  navire,  le  frein  du  cheval,  &  le 
bon  effet  de  qui  se  pretend  .  .  .  Un  habile  homme,  a  tousiours 
plus  d'effet  que  de  parole  :  celuy  qui  est  excessif  en  langage, 
est  souvent  bien  sterile  aux  bonnes  oeuvres.  Enfin,  le  secret 
est  I'ame  des  affaires,  &  c'est  luy  qui  empesche  I'ennemy  de 
se  pourvoir  contre  les  accidents.  L'Ambassadeur  qui  n'est 
pas  en  estime  de  garder  le  secret,  n'est  guere  adverty  des 
choses  d'importance ;  les  espions  ne  s'y  osent  fier,  car  la 
creance  qu'ils  prennent  d'un  homme  qui  ne  revele  iamais 
rien,  les  obligent  davantage  que  le  profit  qu'ils  en  peuvent 
retirer  ...  La  Republique  de  Venise  a  tousiours  merits  una 
glorieuse  loiiange  en  ce  point  particulier.'  ^ 

Oj  Instructions  ^  :  *  It  is  commonly  said,  that  it  is  sufficient 
to  send  an  able  Man,  and  let  him  act  as  he  shall  think  jit.  How- 
ever, I  don't  believe  that  they  who  speak  this  pretend  by  it 
that  an  Embassador  ought  to  go  upon  his  Commission,  without 
Instructions.  It  is  requisite,  and  even  necessary,  he  should 
know  his  Master's  Intention,  and  be  inform'd  of  his  Will,  in 
reference  to  the  Affairs  he  is  to  negotiate  ;  and  all  that  ought 
to  be  expected  from  him,  is,  that  the  Prince  should  rely  on 
the  ability  of  the  Embassador  for  the  Management  and  Execu- 
tion thereof.  ...  I  am  willing  to  believe,  that  excepting  the 
essential  Particulars,  which  make  the  Subject  of  the  Embassy, 
the  most  general  Instructions  are  the  best,  to  an  able  Minister, 
.  .  .  The  Instructions  are  a  secret  Instrument  which  the  Embas- 
sador is  not  obliged  to  communicate  to  the  Court  where  he 
negotiates.  Nay,  I  dare  affirm  that  he  ought  not  to  produce 
it,  without  a  Necessity,  and  an  express  Order.'  .  .  .  The  Publick 
would  be  very  much  oblig'd  to  him  that  would  give  it  a 
Collection  of  Instructions,  at  least  of  the  most  important  ones, 
of  which  Extracts  may  be  found  in  History ;  and  there  are 
some  curious  Persons  that  have  collected  a  great  many.'  * 

0/  Letters  and  Dispatches  ^  ;  Cipher  :  *  As  to  the  Quality 
of  Dispatches,  the  Embassador  must  know  the  Humour  of 

^  Le  Parjait  Ambassadeur,  pp.  572-3,  574- 

'  Wicquefort,  bk.  i,  ch.  xiv.  '  See  historical  examples,  ibid.,  p.  109. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  107,  108,  109.  »  Ibid.,  bk.  11,  ch.  x,  pp.  357-64. 


the  Conduct  of  Negotiations  245 

the  Prince,  and  that  of  the  first  Minister  who  has  the  Direction 
of  his  Affairs.  .  .  .  Cardinal  Mazarin,  who  took  Delight  in 
letting  his  Mind  take  a  long  Range,  and  who  never  tir'd  with 
reasoning,  requir'd  also  that  the  Embassadors  should  enlarge 
upon  their  Subjects.  He  often  made  use  of  Silhoti's  Pen  for 
his  Dispatches,  and  Silhon  who  pretended  to  Politicks  and 
Eloquence,  seconded  very  well  the  Intentions  of  liis  Eminence. 
D^Avaux  and  Servien  answer'd  them  perfectly,  and  might  be 
said  to  write  Volumes  rather  than  Letters.^  ...  It  is  not 
necessary  that  the  Style  of  the  Embassador  should  be  very 
polite.^  It  is  sufficient  if  it  is  clear  and  intelligible,  so  that  it 
is  not  disfigur'd  with  Solecisms  and  Barbarisms.*  .  .  .  One  may 
say  that  Cypher  ...  is  a  kind  of  Magick  .  .  .  Rossignol^  who 
serv'd  Cardinal  Richelieu  in  this  Function,  and  made  his 
Fortune  thereby,  was  so  dextrous  and  successful  in  it,  that  he 
decypher'd  without  much  Pains  all  the  Letters  that  were 
brought  him ;  not  only  those  which  were  written  in  a 
Language  he  understood,  but  also  those  that  were  written  in 
a  Tongue  to  which  he  was  an  utter  Stranger,  and  whereof  he 
had  not  the  least  Knowledge.  It  is  no  hard  matter  to  invent 
a  Million  of  new  Cyphers,  but  it  is  almost  impossible  to  find 
out  one  that  cannot  be  unravel'd  by  those  who  have  a  like 
Genius  that  way,  and  a  great  deal  of  Use.^  During  the  Wars 
and  Disorders  of  the  League,  the  Spaniards  made  use  of 
a  Cypher  which  was  compos'd  of  above  five  hundred  Charac- 
ters ;  so  that  there  was  no  body  could  decypher  their  Letters. 
At  last,  those  that  were  intercepted  were  sent  to  Francis 
Viette,  a  famous  Mathematician  of  those  Times :  He  had 
never  apply'd  himself  to  that  kind  of  Study,  and  had  never 
so  much  as  heard  of  those  Cyphers  which  are  made  use  of  in 
Letters ;  and  yet  after  he  had  consider'd  a  little  thereon,  he 
found  out  the  Key  of  them,  and  decypher'd  them  easily. 
The  Spaniards  did  not  know  till  two  years  after,  that  their 
Secret  was  discover'd.  ...  As  soon  as  the  Tenour  of  an  Affair 

^  Ihid.^  p.  358.  ^  i.e.  '  polished  '.  '  Ihid.^  p.  359. 

*  The  Assistant  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  said  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, July  31,  1 91 8,  that  any  one  who  had  been  behind  the  scenes  in 
diplomacy  knew  that  a  large  number  of  the  cipher  telegrams  were  not 
really  very  secret,  and  that  foreign  policy  would  not  be  seriously  injured 
if  their  contents  were  published  abroad. 


246  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

is  known,  and  the  Court  where  it  is  negotiated,  there  is  no 
Difficulty  to  find  out  the  Persons  whom  Dispatches  speak  of.* 
.  .  .  The  Embassador  .  .  .  ought  to  be  very  punctual  in  sending 
that  which  comes  to  his  Knowledge  ;  but  he  ought  to  dis- 
tinguish well  between  the  doubtful  and  the  certain,  lest 
mingling  the  false  with  the  true,  the  Falsness  of  the  one  should 
destroy  the  Credit  due  to  the  other.'  ^ 

Des  Depeches  et  de  ce  qiCil  y  faut  observer  *  .•  *  Les  Lettres 
qu'un  Negociateur  ecrit  a  son  Prince,  doivent  etre  exemptes 
de  preambules  &  d'ornemens  vains  &  inutiles ;  il  doit  d'abord 
entrer  en  matiere  &  commencer  par  lui  rendre  compte  des 
premieres  demarches  qu'il  a  faites  en  arrivant,  &  de  la  maniere 
dont  il  a  ete  regu,  &  a  mesure  qu'il  s'instruit  de  I'Etat  de  la 
Cour  &  des  affaires  du  Pays  ou  il  se  trouve  ;  il  doit  en  faire  le 
recit  par  ses  depeches,  y  marquer  la  situation  des  esprits  de 
ceux  qui  y  ont  le  principal  credit,  &  des  Ministres  avec  qui  il 
traite,  leurs  attachemens,  leurs  passions,  &  leurs  interets, 
s'etudier  a  les  representer  d'une  maniere  si  claire  &  si  ressem- 
blante,  que  le  Prince  ou  le  Ministre  qui  revolt  ses  depeches 
puisse  connoitre  aussi  distinctement  I'etat  des  choses  dont  il 
lui  rend  compte,  que  s'il  etoit  lui-meme  sur  les  lieux. 

'  Tons  les  Negociateurs  de  France,  tant  Ambassadeurs 
qu'Envoyez,  ont  presentement  I'honneUr  d'ecrire  directement 
au  Roi  .  .  . 

*  Une  depeche  qui  ne  rend  compte  que  des  faits,  sans  entrer 
dans  les  motifs,  ne  peut  passer  que  pour  une  Gazette.^  * 

Des  Lettres  en  Chiffre :  *  *  Comme  le  secret  est  I'ame  de 
la  negociation,  on  a  invente  I'art  d'ecrire  avec  des  caracteres 
inconnus  pour  derober  la  connoissance  de  ce  qu'on  6crit  a 
ceux  qui  interceptent  des  Lettres,  mais  I'industrie  des  hommes, 
qui  s'est  rafinee  par  la  necessite  &  I'interet,  a  trouve  des  regies 
pour  dechiffrer  ces  Lettres,  &  pour  penetrer  par  ce  moyen 
dans  les  Lettres  d'autrui.  Cependant  quoiqu'il  y  ait  des 
dechiffreurs  celebres  &  qui  ont  tire  de  grandes  utilitez  de  cet 
art,  on  peut  assurer  ici  qu'ils  ne  doivent  leur  consideration 
qu'a  la  negligence  de  ceux  qui  donnent  de  medians  chiffres, 

^  Wicquefort,  p.  359.  *  Ibid.^f.  361. 

'  Calli^res,  ch.  xix,  pp.  190-205. 

*  Ibid.y  pp.  1 90-1,  192.  '  Ibid..,  ch.  XX,  pp.  206-9. 


the  Conduct  of  Negotiations  247 

&  a  celle  des  Negociateurs  &  de  leurs  Secretaires  qui  s'en 
servent  mal. 

*  Apres  avoir  examine  a  fond  cette  matiere  &  les  regies  du 
dechiffrement,  on  a  trouve  qu'une  Lettre  bien  chiffree  &  avec 
un  bon  chiffre  est  indechiffrable  sans  trahison,  c'est-a-dire  a 
moins  qu'on  ne  trouve  moyen  de  corrompre  quelque  Secre- 
taire qui  donne  copie  de  la  clef  du  chiffre,  &  on  pent  surement 
defier  tout  ce  qu'il  y  a  de  dechiffreurs  en  Europe  de  pouvoir 
dechiifrer  des  chiffres  d'un  tres-facile  usage,  a  ceux  qui  en 
auront  la  clef,  lorsqu'ils  seront  faits,  comme  ils  le  doivent  etre 
sur  un  modele  general,  qu'il  est  facile  de  donner,  &  sur  lequel 
on  pent  faire  un  nombre  infini  de  differentes  clefs  de  chiffre 
indechiffrable.  On  ne  parle  point  de  certains  chiffres  inventez 
par  des  Regens  de  College  &  faits  sur  des  regies  d'Algebre, 
ou  d'Arithmetique,  qui  sont  impraticables  a  cause  de  leur 
trop  grande  longueur,  &  de  leurs  difficultez  dans  I'execution.'  ^ 

Correspondance  diplomatique  :  ^  *  Les  pieces  diplomatiques, 
qui  sont  I'expression  ecrite  de  ces  communications,  et  dont  la 
forme  differe  selon  leur  importance  et  leur  nature,  demeurent 
ou  confidentielles  et  secretes  toutes  les  fois  que  le  secret  est 
possible  et  que  leur  divulgation  pourrait  nuire  au  bien  des 
affaires,  ou  sont  destinees  a  une  publicite  plus  ou  moins  com- 
plete, selon  que  les  cabinets  ont  interet  a  y  recourir,  ou  qu'ils 
se  croient  dans  I'impossibilite  de  s'y  soustraire  par  suite  du 
droit  qu'ont  les  assemblees  deliberantes,  dans  les  gouvernements 
representatifs,  de  demander  le  depot  des  actes  et  offices  diplo- 
matiques dont  la  connoissance  peut  leur  servir  a  controler  la 
politique  ministerielle.* 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  206-8. 

^  Martens,  Le  Guide  diplomatique,  ii,  pp.  266-524. 

^  See  foot-note  ii,  p.  267 :  *  La  prevision  de  la  production  possible  des 
correspondances  diplomatiques  a  la  tribune  des  chambres  legislatives  met 
I'agent  dans  la  necessitc  de  se  precautionner  centre  cette  publicite  intem- 
pestive,  et  de  rediger  ses  depeches  avec  plus  de  reserve  qu'il  ne  I'eut  fait 
si  elles  n'eussent  ete  exposees  a  cette  chance.  .  .  .  C'est  dans  ces  lettres 
confidentielles  uniquement  qu'il  peut  se  livrer  avec  plus  d'abandon,  et 
souvent  avec  utilite,  a  des  raisonnements  sur  I'etat  actuel  des  affaires,  a  des 
opinions  conjecturales  sur  leur  denoument.  Le  ministre  des  affaires 
etrangeres,  de  son  cote,  est  oblige,  par  le  meme  motif,  d'avoir  recours  au 
meme  systeme  et  d'entretenir  avec  ses  agents  une  correspondance  confi- 
dentielle  en  dehors  de  la  correspondance  officielle.' 


248  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning 

*  Ind6pendamment  des  memoires  specialement  destines  a 
I'exposition  des  fails  importants  et  a  la  discussion  des  questions 
que  ces  faits  soulevent,  c'est  par  des  lettres  et  des  notes  que  les 
agents  diplomatiques  suivent  les  affaires  qui  leur  sont  confiees. 
...  A  cote  des  notes  signees,  I'usage  admet  la  "remise  de  notes 
dites  verhales  que  I'Envoye  s'abstient  de  signer  pour  ne  point 
engager  sa  responsabilite  d'une  maniere  definitive,  ou  lorsqu'il 
s'agit  simplement  de  rappeler  les  points  essentiels  d'une  con- 
versation politique  sur  une  question  traitee  de  vive  voix. 

*  C'est  au  moyen  des  ecrits  dont  nous  venons  de  parler  que 
I'agent  s'acquitte  de  ses  fonctions  officielles  aupres  de  la  cour 
ou  il  reside ;  quant  aux  relations  qu'il  entretient  avec  le 
cabinet  qui  I'y  a  accredite,  elles  ont  lieu  au  moyen  de  lettres, 
qualifiees  de-peches^  dans  lesquelles  il  rend  compte  de  toutes 
ses  demarches,  et  transmet  toutes  les  informations  que  son 
zele  et  son  habilete  le  mettent  a  meme  de  recueillir.'  ^ 

*  On  donne,  en  diplomatic,  le  nom  de  memoires  aux  ecrits 
politiques  d'une  certaine  etendue  destines  a  I'exposition  cir- 
constanciee  d'affaires  qui  sont  ou  qui  deviennent  I'objet 
d'une  negociation  politique,  d'evenements  donnant  matiere 
a  une  justification  de  conduite  ou  motivant  des  mesures  dont 
on  enonce  le  but  et  la  portee,  et  a  la  discussion  des  questions 
que  ces  affaires  soulevent.  Ce  qui  distingue  les  notes  des 
memoires^  c'est  moins  encore  I'extension  de  ces  dernieres  pieces 
que  I'absence  convenue  des  formules  de  courtoisie  et  des 
formes  consacrees  par  le  ceremonial.  On  y  parle  toujours 
a  la  troisieme  personne,  et  le  nom  du  signataire  s'y  place,  en 
terminant,  a  cote  de  la  date,  sans  autres  formalites  .  .  . 

*  Les  cabinets  repondent  aux  memoires  qui  leur  sont  adress6s 
par  des  ecrits  rediges  dans  la  meme  forme,  et  que  I'on  designe 
sous  le  nom  de  contre-memoires^  2 

*  Les  memoires,  auxquels  on  donne  aussi  quelquefois  le 
nom  de  memorandum^  et  que  le  vieux  langage  diplomatique 
a  longtemps  appeles  deductions,  sont,  selon  les  circonstances, 
ou  des  documents  destines  a  la  publicite,  ainsi  que  les  declara- 
tions et  les  exposes  de  motifs,  ou  des  notes  confidentielles  dont 
la  forme  seule  differe  des  autres  notes  diplomatiques. 

*  Ces  documents  sont  quelquefois  r6dig6s  en  commun  par 

^  Martens,  ii,  pp.  266-9.  '  •^^'i'^'j  ">  PP«  269-70,  271. 


the  Conduct  of  Negotiations  249 

plusieurs  des  ministres  accredites  a  la  meme  cour,  lorsqu'ils 
sont  charges  de  faire  au  souverain  une  representation  col- 
lective au  nom  de  leurs  cabinets  respectifs ;  ou  bien  encore 
cette  representation,  quoique  d'un  interet  commun  et  ayant 
le  meme  but,  est  redigee  et  remise  par  chacun  d'eux  separement. 

'  Les  instructions  qui  sont  donnees  par  les  cabinets  a  leurs 
representants  a  I'etranger,  lorsqu'ils  se  rendent  a  leur  poste, 
sont  le  plus  habituellement  redigees  sous  forme  de  memoires. 
Dans  ce  cas,  la  piece  est  intitulee  Memoire  pour  servir  dHn- 
structions.^  ^ 

Of  Treaties :  ^  '  He  [the  Ambassador]  ought  not  to  suffer 
those  Words  of  Form  ...  to  be  compris'd  or  stifled  under 
general  Terms ;  because  this  Negligence  affords  Princes,  who 
adhere  rather  to  the  Gloss  than  to  the  Text,  the  Advantage 
of  making  thereof  an  Explanation  more  conformable  to  their 
Interest,  than  to  the  Intention  of  the  Embassador's  Master. 
He  ought  not  neither  to  suffer  an  essential  Clause,  or  important 
Condition,  to  be  made  a  separate  or  secret  Article ;  unless  it 
be  there  expressly  said,  That  such  Article  shall  have  the  same 
Force,  as  if  it  had  been  inserted  Word  for  Word  in  the 
Treaty.'  ^ 

'  II  y  a  plusieurs  sortes  de  Traitez  entre  les  Princes  et  les 
Etats  Souverains,  les  principaux  sont  ceux  de  paix,  de  treve, 
ou  de  suspension  d'armes,  d'echange,  de  cession  ou  de  restitu- 
tion de  places  ou  de  pays  contestez  ou  conquis,  de  reglemens, 
de  limites,  &  de  dependances,  de  ligues  tant  offensives  que 
deffensives,  de  garantie,  d'alliance  par  mariage,  de  com- 
merce, &c. 

'  II  y  a  des  Traitez  qu'on  appelle  secrets,  parce  que  1' execu- 
tion &  la  publication  en  demeure  quelque  temps  suspendue, 
il  y  a  aussi  des  Traitez  publics,  auxquels  on  joint  des  articles 
secrets. 

'  II  y  a  des  Traitez  qu'on  appelle  Eventuels,  parce  que  leur 
execution  depend  de  certains  evenemens  que  Ton  juge  devoir 
arriver  &  sans  lesquels  ces  Traitez  sont  de  nul  effet. 

^  Ibid.,  ii,  pp.  272-3.  See  also  Satow,  A  Guide  to  Diplomatic  Practice, 
above,  pp.  158-9. 

2  Wicquefort,  bk.  11,  ch.  xii,  pp.  371-84.  See  also  ch.  xi, '  Of  Mediation  *. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  380. 


250  Illustrative  Extracts  concerning  Negotiations 

*  Lorsque  les  Ministres  de  deux  Puissances  egales  signent  un 
Traite,  ils  en  font  dresser  deux  copies  qu'on  appelle  un  double 
instrument^  &  chacun  d'eux  nomme  son  Prince  le  premier  dans 
celui  qu'il  garde  &  y  signe  a  la  premiere  place,  afin  de  ne  point 
prejudicier  a  leur  pretention  sur  les  rangs  lorsqu'il  y  a  quelque 
concurrence  entr'eux.'  * 

^  Callieres,  pp.  185-6. 


APPENDIX  II 


Effect  of  telegraphic  communications  upon  the  responsibility  oj 
diplomatic  missions : 

(i)  Evidence  of  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  : 
'  Has  it  been  your  experience  with  regard  to  the  introduction 
of  much  more  rapid  locomotion,  and  the  use  of  telegrams, 
that  an  increase,  or  a  diminution,  or  that  no  difference  has 
been  made  in  the  responsibility  and  the  dilhculties  of  the 
position  of  ambassador  ? — ^That,  I  conceive,  is  as  the  case 
may  be. 

'  You  are  aware  that  arguments  have  been  used  of  this  kii^d 
that,  with  the  present  facilities  of  communication,  the  neces- 
sity for  diplomatic  servants  of  a  high  character  is  diminished  ; 
do  you  agree  with  that  ? — By  no  means ;  telegraphic  com- 
munications, whatever  may  happen  hereafter,  have  not  yet 
operated  to  the  exclusion  of  Despatches.  They  are  subject, 
to  all  appearance,  by  their  very  nature,  to  the  risk  of  conveying 
erroneous  information,  or  premature  instructions,  equally 
involving  much  responsibility,  and  sometimes  requiring  the 
exercise  of  a  superior  judgment.  They  are,  moreover,  liable 
to  frequent  mistakes  in  the  transmission.  Time  and  practice 
will  probably  bring  them  to  greater  perfection.  Meanwhile, 
the  invention  of  the  electric  telegraph  does  not  appear  to  have 
superseded  the  usefulness  either  of  Despatches  or  of  the 
Ministers  who  write  them. 

'  I  take  it  that  in  former  times  it  was  usual  that  the  Despatch 
was  written  in  such  terms  in  the  Foreign  Office  as  left  very 
little  discretion  to  the  ambassador  in  his  mode  of  communi- 
cation, for  the  very  terms  were  used  which  he  ought  to  use 
himself  in  communicating  with  foreign  Governments,  whereas 
if  the  instructions  are  received  only  by  telegram,  a  great  deal 


252  Effect  of  Telegraphic  Communications  upon 

must  be  left  to  the  discretion  and  the  tact  of  the  diplomatist  ? 
— No  doubt. 

*  In  that  way  would  not  telegrams  rather  require  superior 
agents  to  interpret  and  deal  with  them  than  inferior  ones  ? — 
When  an  instruction  for  immediate  execution  is  transmitted 
to  a  distant  representative  abroad,  it  is  more  likely,  I  should 
think,  to  be  couched  in  peremptory  terms  than  when  pre- 
pared in  the  form  of  a  Despatch.  A  greater  responsibiUty 
must,  therefore,  attach  to  any  departure,  however  necessary, 
from  the  strict  apparent  intention,  and  an  agent  of  inferior 
weight  and  position  might  well  shrink  from  the  personal 
hazard  of  incurring  it.' — Report  from  the  Select  Committee  on 
the  Diplomatic  Service,  1861,  p.  168. 

(2)  Evidence  of  Sir  A.  Buchanan  : 

*  Has  the  adoption  of  telegraphic  communications  much 
changed  the  nature  of  the  relations  between  the  Secretary  of 
State  and  the  foreign  missions  ? — It  reduces,  to  a  great  degree, 
the  responsibility  of  the  minister,  for  he  can  now  ask  for 
instructions  instead  of  doing  a  thing  upon  his  own  responsi- 
biHty  ;  but  at  the  same  time  it  very  often  happens  that  he 
cannot  get  an  answer  in  time,  and  that  the  instructions  arrive 
after  he  has  been  obliged  to  act. 

*  Has  the  general  effect  of  these  telegraphic  communica- 
tions been  to  weaken  the  sense  of  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
the  minister  ? — I  do  not  think  so. 

*  Do  you  think  that  the  responsibiUty  of  these  and  other 
means  of  communication  at  all  affects  the  question  of  the 
necessity  of  keeping  up  diplomatic  establishments  ? — I  think 
not ;  inasmuch  as  you  will  still  require  some  organ  on  the  spot 
to  communicate  verbally  with  the  Foreign  Minister. 

*  Do  you  think  that,  in  some  degree,  it  makes  the  presence  of 
that  organ,  and  the  importance  of  that  organ,  less  necessary  ? 
— I  do  not  think  so.  One  great  use  of  a  minister  is  to  prevent 
the  necessity  of  written  communications,  and  to  be  able  to 
communicate  with  foreign  governments  verbally. 

*  In  the  transaction  of  large  and  complicated  affairs,  is  not 
the  position  of  a  minister  made  almost  more  difficult  than  it 


the  Responsibility  of  Diplomatic  Missions    253 

was  before  ? — I  think  not ;  I  think  that  upon  the  whole  one 
gains  a  great  deal  by  telegrams,  though  they  sometimes  cause 
embarrassment ;  telegraphic  instructions  are  very  concise,  and 
it  may  be  difficult  to  understand  them  exactly ;  on  other 
occasions,  a  minister  asks  for  instructions,  and  he  is  obliged  to 
act  before  they  arrive  ;  but,  upon  the  whole,  I  think  telegrams 
are  useful.' — Ibid.j  129-30. 

(3)  Evidence  of  Lord  John  Russell  (Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs)  : 

*  With  respect  to  the  effect  of  telegraphs,  do  you  consider 
that  they  have  diminished  the  necessity  for  diplomatic  agency  ? 
— No  ;  of  course,  one  has  to  think  of  these  matters  as  there 
has  been  a  great  change  ;  but  they  rather  seem  to  me  to 
increase  the  necessity  for  diplomatic  agency.  Formerly, 
a  Minister,  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Canning,  considered  all  the 
contingencies  of  a  case,  and  all  the  arguments  that  might  be 
used  ;  and  he  wrote  a  long  despatch,  explaining  clearly  all 
those  matters,  which  formed  an  instruction  to  the  Minister, 
so  that  the  Minister  was  obliged  to  go  and  speak  to  a  foreign 
minister  ;  he  had  his  brief  in  his  hand  ;  but  now  he  asks  a 
question,  or  instructions,  in  a  few  words ;  he  is  obliged  to 
supply,  therefore,  a  great  deal  more  than  a  Minister  abroad 
formerly  was  obliged  to  supply.' — Ibid.^  308. 


The  Publication  of  Dispatches  :  '  Secret  Diplomacy  '  .• 

(i)  Evidence  of  Lord  Wodehouse  (Under-Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  formerly  Minister,  for  two  years,  at 
St.  Petersburg)  : 

'  I  believe  that  in  the  papers  which  have  been  laid  before 
the  House,  containing  the  opinions  of  different  diplomatists 
abroad,  there  are  one  or  two  who  refer  to  the  publication  of 
despatches  in  this  country  indiscriminately  as  rendering  it 
difficult  for  them  to  obtain  information  for  fear  of  the  persons 
on  the  Continent  communicating  it  becoming  compromised ; 
have  you  had  any  experience  to  that  effect  ? — ^There  is  cer- 
tainly some  reluctance,  on  the  part  of  foreign  diplomatists, 


254  The  Publication  of  Dispatches 

from  their  knowledge  that  what  they  communicate  may  be 
pubHshed  in  a  Blue  Book,  but  I  do  not  see  any  mode  of 
obviating  this  inconvenience.  You  must  publish  for  the  use 
of  Parliament  and  of  the  country  information  on  foreign 
affairs.' — Ihid.^  86-7. 

(2)  Evidence  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon  : 

*  A  great  deal  has  been  said  about  what  is  called  "  public  " 
diplomacy,  in  contradistinction  to  "  secret  "  diplomacy ;  do 
you  think  it  is  possible  that  the  transactions  between  the 
Government  of  this  country  and  foreign  Governments  could 
be  carried  on  by  public  despatches  ? — If  by  public  despatches 
is  meant  only  those  despatches  which  are  in  their  entirety 
laid  before  Parliament,  I  should  say  that  it  would  be  difficult 
to  carry  them  on,  because  I  think  that  there  must  always  be 
a  certain  discretion  left  to  the  Secretary  of  State  as  to  what 
should  be  laid  before  Parliament,  but  that  is  the  only  diffi- 
culty I  see  in  it ;  I  am  perfectly  certain  there  is  always  laid 
before  Parliament  a  very  fair  and  complete  view  of  the  trans- 
actions between  this  country  and  any  other  to  which  those 
papers  may  relate.  I  know  that  foreign  Governments  rather 
complain  of  our  Blue  Books,  and  to  a  certain  extent  they  may 
curtail  some  of  the  communications  that  are  made  to  our 
foreign  Ministers,  but  I  should  be  extremely  sorry  to  see  our 
system  of  publication  of  diplomatic  papers  in  any  way  cur- 
tailed, or  different  from  what  it  is ;  of  course,  there  must 
always  be  care  taken  not  to  compromise  individuals  for  the 
information  they  have  given,  but  I  believe  it  is  an  immense 
advantage  to  this  country  that  our  despatches  and  diplomatic 
transactions  should  be  known,  because  if  they  have  the  appro- 
bation of  Parliament  and  of  the  country,  the  Government 
then  has  the  whole  weight  of  public  opinion  in  its  favour, 
and  it  is  that  which  gives  such  strength  to  our  policy  and  to 
our  opinions  in  foreign  countries. 

*  What  I  wish  to  ask  you  is,  whether  despatches  could  be 
published  from  day  to  day  as  negotiations  are  going  on  ? — 
I  think  that  that  would  be  impossible ;  and  in  support  of 
that  opinion,  I  may  state  that  at  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Congress  of  Paris,  the  Plenipotentiaries  were  all  asked  not  to 


and  *  Secret  Diplomacy '  255 

make  known,  except  to  their  respective  Governments,  that 
which  passed  there  every  day,  because  if  it  appeared  in  news- 
papers, or  became  published  in  any  form,  so  many  people 
would  then  take  part  in  the  negotiations  that  we  should  never 
come  to  an  end  ;  and  that  might  be  called  secret  diplomacy, 
because  certainly  the  public  were  not  admitted  to  the  dis- 
cussions of  men  who  held  a  great  variety  of  opinions,  and  had 
very  different  interests  to  conciliate  ;  and  I  think  that  the 
admission  of  the  public  then  would  have  prevented  any  final 
settlement.  But  there  was  nothing  that  passed  at  the  Congress 
that  was  not  recorded  in  protocols  at  the  time,  and  subse- 
quently laid  before  Parliament. 

' .  .  .  I  believe  that  there  are,  besides  the  ordinary  despatches 
which  pass  between  the  Secretary  of  State  and  Ministers 
abroad,  other  despatches  upon  important  subjects,  marked 
"  Secret  and  Confidential  "  ? — Yes. 

'  And  these  are  independent  of  that  private  correspondence 
to  which  you  have  referred  ? — Yes,  entirely,  and  remain  in 
the  office. 

'  Is  it  your  opinion  that,  in  case  of  information  being  required 
by  Parliament  as  to  the  policy  which  in  any  particular  case  is 
pursued  by  the  Government,  that  the  publication  of  the 
dispatches  in  the  usual  manner  does  give  sufficiently  satis- 
factory information  to  the  public  as  to  what  is  going  on  ? — 
No  doubt  of  it.  I  think  from  all  I  have  known  of  Blue  Books, 
with  the  publication  of  which  I  have  been  concerned,  and 
others  which  I  have  read,  that  they  give  a  complete  and 
honest  view  of  the  transactions  to  which  they  refer. 

'  Are  despatches  marked  "  secret  and  confidential "  generally 
not  intended  to  be  published  ? — No  ;  not  those  that  are 
received  at  the  Foreign  Office. 

*  Is  not  that  security  enough  for  a  foreign  Government,  and 
a  reason  why  they  should  not  be  unwilling  to  communicate 
information,  when  it  is  said  that  they  are  "  secret  and  confi- 
dential "  ? — Yes,  certainly  it  would  be  security  enough  :  but 
then  there  are  other  matters  sent  home  in  despatches  which 
are  not  marked  "  secret  and  confidential ",  which  they  never- 
theless dislike  the  publication  of. 

'  But  the  fact  of  "  secret  and  confidential "  being  marked 


256  The  Publication  of  Dispatches 

upon  a  despatch  does  not  positively  preclude  the  Government 
from  giving  it  publicity  ?— Certainly  not.' — Ibid.,  iio-ii ,  113. 

(3)  Evidence  of  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe  : 

*  With  regard  to  communications  between  the  Foreign 
Minister  and  the  head  of  a  mission,  do  you  think  that  any 
advantage  has  resulted  from  the  largely  increased  habit  of 
writing  private  letters  ? — ^The  practice  of  private  corre- 
spondence, I  think,  is  one  upon  which  it  would  hardly  answer 
any  good  purpose  to  lay  restriction.  Upon  the  whole,  I  think 
that  more  advantage  results  from  the  use  of  private  corre- 
spondence than  the  contrary ;  but  the  practice  may  be  carried 
too  far. 

*  In  a  certain  degree,  must  not  a  very  continual  private 
correspondence  detract  something  from  the  influence  of  the 
pubhc  documentary  correspondence  ? — Not,  if  it  be  carried 
on  in  the  right  spirit.  I  conceive  that  the  use  of  private 
correspondence  is  to  afford  a  clearer  view  of  the  scope  and 
intent  of  the  official  instruction,  and  to  convey  suggestions, 
or  matters  of  information,  without  being  committed  to  the 
formalities  of  the  official  correspondence,  and  to  the  publicity 
which  frequently  attends  it ;  but  anything  which  has  the 
effect  of  contradicting  in  private  what  is  made  matter  of 
instruction  in  the  public  correspondence,  or  anything  that 
produces  an  action  in  public  affairs,  of  which  there  is  no  trace 
in  the  public  correspondence,  is  open  to  objection,  as  it  is 
liable  to  abuse. 

*  Have  you  found  yourself  annoyed  or  restricted  in  your 
correspondence  with  the  Secretary  of  State  by  the  circum- 
stance of  most  of  the  important  despatches  being  from  time 
to  time  laid  before  ParUament  ? — I  do  not  remember  at  this 
moment  to  have  experienced  any  annoyance  from  it  myself ; 
but  there  are,  doubtless,  occasions  where  the  public  interests 
might  be  compromised  by  indiscriminate  publication.  There 
have  been  cases  where  I  should  have  wished  a  Despatch  to  be 
published,  and  others  where  I  should  have  deprecated  its 
publication.  It  would  be  difficult  to  lay  down  any  precise 
rule  for  such  matters. 

*  Have  you  ever  had  cause  to  complain  of  communications, 


and  'Secret  Diplomacy'  257 

which  you  regarded  as  of  a  private  nature,  having  been  laid 
before  Parhament  ? — No  ;  I  do  not  remember  any  instance 
respecting  myself ;  but  I  must  say  that  I  hold  it  to  be  a  most 
unfair  thing,  and  one  of  which  I  should  have  thought  myself 
entitled  to  complain,  if  any  letter  of  mine  marked  "  private  ", 
and  written  in  the  usual  form  of  private  personal  correspond- 
ence, had  been  laid  before  the  public  without  my  express 
consent.  I  have  always  understood  that  private  letters  of 
this  kind  are  as  correspondence  between  individuals,  although 
relating  to  public  subjects. 

'  When  you  have  headed  a  Despatch  "  Private  and  Confi- 
dential ",  have  you  thereby  intended  that  that  Despatch 
should  not  go  beyond  the  Secretary  of  State  himself? — 
Letters  marked  "  Private  and  Confidential ",  written  in 
regular  form  on  large  paper,  are  usually  considered  as  part  of 
the  public  correspondence,  subject,  as  to  publicity,  to  the 
discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

'  You  draw,  then,  a  clear  distinction  between  Despatches 
you  must  consider  of  a  reserved  character,  and  the  private 
correspondence  between  individuals  ? — Decidedly ;  it  was  to 
the  latter  class  of  private  correspondence  that  my  remarks 
were  addressed  ;  but  I  submit  that  the  public  in  fairness  has 
nothing  to  do  with  them.  The  Foreign  Office  might  be 
moved  by  Parliament  to  put  an  end  to  such  correspondence ; 
but  that  is  a  different  point ;  as  long  as  there  is  no  inter- 
vention of  the  kind,  I  consider  the  correspondence  in  question 
as  being  between  two  individuals,  and,  in  honour,  not  to  be 
communicated  beyond  the  writer's  intention.' — Ibid.,  167-8. 

(4)  Evidence  of  Lord  Cowley  : 

*  You  have  held  the  post  of  Ambassador  at  Paris  under 
several  different  English  Ministers  of  different  complexions, 
and  you  have  carried  on,  I  believe,  a  great  deal  of  your  business 
by  private  correspondence  with  all  of  them  ? — ^A  great  deal. 

'  Have  you  found  any  difficulties  arise  from  a  change  of 
Ministry,  in  consequence  of  losing  the  thread  of  the  private 
correspondence  ? — No,  certainly  not. 

'  Are  you  prepared  to  state  that  the  mode  of  communication 
by  private  correspondence  is  not  contrary  to  or  inconsistent 

2224  a 


258  The  Publication  of  Dispatches 

with  the  public  despatches  ? — Certainly  it  is  not,  and  it  would 
be  impossible  to  carry  on  the  business  between  Paris  and 
London  without  a  great  deal  of  private  correspondence. 

*  I  believe  that  it  disappears  from  the  office  with  the 
Minister  ? — Yes. 

*  But  it  is  so  managed,  that  what  is  important  is  embodied 
in  a  public  dispatch. — Always. 

*  Therefore,  the  objection  to  what  is  called  secret  diplomacy 
you  do  not  think  holds  good  ? — There  is  no  secret  diplomacy, 
properly  so  called. 

'  As  to  the  publication  of  despatches,  have  you  ever  found 
yourself  inconvenienced  by  the  publication  of  your  despatches  ? 
— No,  I  cannot  say  that  I  have. 

'  Do  you  think  that  it  creates  any  difficulty  as  to  obtaining 
information  ? — ^Yes ;  perhaps  not  so  much  in  Paris,  but  in 
Germany,  I  think,  that  it  must  constantly  interfere  with  our 
obtaining  information,  and  with  that  confidence  which  a 
foreign  minister  would  be  ready  to  repose  in  an  English  diplo- 
matist if  he  was  certain  that  it  would  not  be  made  use  of 
publicly. 

'  Is  there  any  difference  made  as  to  publishing  your  des- 
patches if  you  state  them  to  be  confidential,  or  should  you 
consider  yourself  ill-used  if  they  were  published  in  such  a 
case  ? — No,  everything  in  the  form  of  a  despatch  I  consider 
to  be  open  to  publication.' — Ibid.,  232-3. 

(5)  Evidence  of  Lord  John  Russell  (Foreign  Office)  : 

*  Questions  have  been  raised  here  with  reference  to  the 
conduct  of  business  by  private  correspondence  ;  I  presume 
you  find  that  necessary  as  your  predecessors  did  ? — Yes,  I  do. 

'  Do  you,  however,  agree  with  them  in  stating  that  there  is 
no  private  correspondence  carried  on,  of  which  there  is  not 
a  sufficient  record  left  in  despatches  in  the  office  ? — If  a  matter 
comes  to  be  a  subject  of  public  argument,  there  is  sure  to  be 
some  record  of  it  in  the  office  ;  but,  of  course,  there  are 
things,  I  should  say  a  number  of  things,  upon  which  there  is 
some  hint  or  suggestion  thrown  out  either  abroad  or  here, 
and  the  suggestion  comes  to  nothing,  and  then  it  does  not 
lead  to  public  despatches. 


and  'Secret  Diplomacy'  259 

'  But  if  you  apply  the  observation  to  what  has  been  termed 
out  of  doors  secret  diplomacy,  do  you  agree  with  your  pre- 
decessors in  denying  that  there  is  any  such  carried  on  ? — 
There  is  none  such  carried  on  ;  anything  that  is  agreed  upon 
is  a  matter  of  public  despatch. 

'  And  so  is  put  on  record  in  the  office  ? — Yes.' — Ibid.,  307-8. 


The  Marquess  Wellesley  on  the  Spanish  Supreme  Central 
Junta,  1809  :  ^ 

'  The  constitution  of  the  Supreme  Spanish  Junta  is  not 
founded  on  any  well-understood  system  of  union  among  the 
provinces,  and  still  less  on  any  just  or  wise  distribution  of 
the  elements  or  powers  of  government ;  the  confederacy  of 
the  provinces  still  exists ;  the  executive  power  is  weakened 
and  dispersed  in  the  hands  of  an  Assembly  too  numerous  for 
unity  of  council  or  promptitude  of  action,  and  too  contracted 
for  the  purpose  of  representing  the  body  of  the  Spanish  Nation. 
The  Supreme  Central  Junta  is  neither  an  adequate  repre- 
sentative of  the  Crown,  nor  of  the  aristocracy,  nor  of  the 
people  ;  nor  does  it  comprize  any  useful  quality  either  of  an 
executive  council  or  of  a  deliberative  assembly,  while  it  com- 
bines many  defects  which  tend  to  disturb  both  deliberation 
and  action. 

'  Whether  this  Government,  so  ill-informed,  be  deficient  in 
sincerity  to  the  cause  of  Spain  and  of  the  Allies,  is  certainly 
questionable :  whatever  jealousy  exists  against  the  British 
Government  or  the  Allies,  is  principally  to  be  found  in  this 
body,  its  officers,  or  adherents ;  in  the  people  no  such  unworthy 
sentiment  can  be  traced.  But,  omitting  all  questions  respecting 
the  disposition  of  the  Junta,  it  is  evident  that  it  does  not 
possess  any  spirit  of  energy  or  activity,  any  degree  of  authority 
or  strength  ;  that  it  is  unsupported  by  popular  attachment  or 
goodwill,  while  its  strange  and  anomalous  constitution  unites 
the  contradictory  inconveniences  of  every  known  form  of 
government,  without  possessing  the  advantage  of  any. 

'  It  is  not  an  instrument  of  sufficient  power  to  accomplish 
*  See  above,  p.  52,  foot-note. 
S  2 


26o   Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Treaty-making  Power 

the  purposes  for  which  it  was  formed  ;  nor  can  it  ever  acquire 
sufficient  force  or  influence  to  bring  into  action  the  resources 
of  the  country  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  with  that  degree 
of  vigour  and  alacrity  which  might  give  effect  to  foreign 
alliances,  and  might  repel  a  powerful  Invader. 

*  This  is  the  true  cause  at  least  of  the  continuance  of  that 
state  of  weakness,  confusion,  and  disorder,  of  which  the  British 
Army  has  recently  experienced  the  consequences  in  the 
internal  administration  of  Spain,  and  especially  of  her  military 
affairs. 

* .  .  .  The  original  powers  delegated  to  the  Junta  have  not 
been  clearly  defined,  either  with  relation  to  time  or  authority.' 
— Marquess  Welle sley  to  the  Right  Hon.  George  Canning : 
Seville,  15th  September  1809. — Papers  relating  to  Spain  and 
Portugal,  ordered  by  the  House  of  Commons  to  he  printed^ 
igth  March  18 10,  p.  87. 

Compare :  .  .  .  *  Spain,  where  the  disposition  to  rely  upon 
every  thing  rather  than  its  own  exertions  is  unfortunately  so 
strongly  marked  in  all  the  proceedings  of  the  Supreme  Junta.' 

Canning  to  Wellesley  :  Foreign  Office,  12th  August  1809. — 
House  of  Commons  Papers,  2^th  May  1810,  p.  27. 

See  also  Despatches  and  Correspondence  of  the  Marquess  of 
Wellesley  during  his  Lordship's  Mission  to  Spain  as  Ambassador 
Extraordinary  to  the  Supreme  Junta  in  i8og,  ed.  by  Martin 
(1838),  pp.  119-35,  and  p.  192.  The  version  of  Wellesley's 
dispatch  in  the  House  of  Commons  Papers  is  that  which  has 
been  followed  in  the  extract  given  above. 

4 

Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Treaty-making  Power:  the  Cession  of 
Heligoland : 

Mr.  Gladstone  in  the  House  of  Commons,  July  24,  1890, 
following  Sir  J.  Fergusson,  Under-Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  who  had  moved  the  second  reading  of  the 
Anglo-German  Agreement  Bill : 

* .  .  .  He  [Sir  J.  Fergusson]  said,  towards  the  close  of  his 
speech,  that  the  House  was  asked  to  accede  to  the  cession  of 
Heligoland.     That  is  perfectly  true  in  point  of  form.     It 


and  the  Cession  of  Heligoland  261 

might  be  said,  if  we  looked  at  it  from  the  outside  only,  that 
this  is  only  an  affair  of  parochial  legislation,  because  the  popu- 
lation of  Heligoland,  I  think,  is  not  equal  to  the  average 
population  of  any  of  the  10,000  parishes  of  England.  But, 
Sir,  I  wish  to  point  out  that,  although  the  vote  of  the  House 
is  only  to  be  taken  upon  the  Agreement  as  to  Heligoland  in 
point  of  form,  yet  in  point  of  substance  the  vote  of  the  House 
is  upon  the  entire  Treaty.  Now,  upon  that  there  can  be  no 
question  whatever  that  the  whole  treaty-making  power  of 
the  Crown  is  thrown  into  the  hands  of  the  House  in  respect 
not  only  to  Heligoland,  but  to  all  the  conditions  relating  to 
the  South  African  portion  of  the  Agreement,  although  upon 
the  form  of  proceeding  there  is  no  indication  whatever  to 
that  effect. 

* .  .  .  The  question  of  the  Treaty-making  power  is  undoubt- 
edly one  of  the  most  difficult  questions  of  practical  politics 
in  the  world.  The  proof  of  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  history 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  able  and 
sagacious  men  who  considered  this  question  there,  arrived  at 
a  solution  of  the  difficulty  by  adopting  a  compromise.  They 
gave  the  power  of  intervention  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States ;  they  did  not  give  it  to  the  popularly  elected  body, 
and  that  body  has  nothing  whatever  to  say  to  a  Treaty  con- 
cluded with  a  Foreign  Power,  and  it  has  no  power  of  inter- 
fering with  the  conditions  of  that  Treaty  either  directly  or 
indirectly  by  censuring  or  punishing  those  who  have  made  it. 
No  one  doubts.  Sir,  that  this  power  of  Treaty-making  lies 
in  this  country  with  the  Crown,  subject  to  certain  exceptions, 
which,  I  believe,  are  perfectly  well  understood.  Wherever 
money  is  involved,  wherever  a  pecuniary  burden  on  the  State 
is  involved  in  any  shape,  I  say,  it  is  perfectly  well  understood, 
and  I  believe  it  is  as  well  known  to  Foreign  Powers  as  to  our- 
selves, that  the  Government  is  absolutely  powerless  without 
the  consent  of  Parliament,  and  that  that  assent,  if  given,  is 
an  absolutely  indispensable  assent,  upon  which  the  Crown 
has  no  claim  whatever,  presumptive  or  otherwise.  I  believe 
it  to  be  also  a  principle — and  I  speak  subject  to  correction — 
that  where  personal  rights  and  liberties  are  involved  they 
cannot  be,  at  any  rate,  directly  affected  by  the  prerogative  of 


262  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Treaty-making  Power 

the  Crown,  but  the  assent  of  Parliament,  the  popularly  elected 
body  to  a  representative  chamber,  is  necessary  to  constitute 
a  valid  treaty  in  regard  to  them.  But,  Sir,  setting  aside  these 
cases  which  are  well  defined,  both  in  principle  and  in  practice, 
there  remains  a  vast  range  over  which  this  Treaty  power 
extends.  .  .  .  There  is  one  thing  which  I  think  is  still  higher 
than  the  dicta  of  legal  authorities  in  this  important  question, 
and  it  is  our  long,  uniform,  and  unbroken  course  of  practice. 
It  is  one  thing  to  stand  upon  the  opinion  of  an  ingenious  or 
even  a  learned  man  ;  it  is  another  thing  to  cite  the  authority 
of  an  entire  State,  signified  in  practical  conclusions,  after 
debate  and  discussion  in  every  possible  form,  all  bearing  in  one 
direction  and  stamped  with  one  and  the  same  character.  .  .  . 
Do  not  let  it  be  supposed  that  I  am  in  favour  of  action  outside 
Parliament.  ...  It  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  in 
scores  of  cases  cession  has  taken  place,  and  in  all  cases  the 
practice  has  been  uniform  for  the  Ministers  of  the  Crown  to 
advise  upon  their  responsibility,  for  the  Crown  to  act,  and  for 
Parliament  to  accept  the  results.  ...  If  the  House  of  Commons 
does  not  approve  of  a  Treaty  which  has  been  entered  into  it 
can,  of  course,  turn  out  the  Government  of  the  day.  .  .  .  The 
effect  of  the  present  system,  therefore,  be  it  theoretically  good 
or  theoretically  bad,  places  in  the  House  of  Commons  the 
supreme  control  over  the  Treaty-making  power  of  the  Crown. 
Is  that  to  be  the  case  after  the  Treaty-making  power  has  come 
to  be  handled  by  this  Bill  ?  It  seems  to  me  almost  a  necessity 
that  out  of  this  proceeding  some  complications  of  weight  and 
importance  must  grow,  deeply  affecting  the  relations  of  the 
Crown  and  Parliament  and  the  administration  of  political 
power.  Speaking  roughly,  as  the  matter  now  stands,  we  have, 
virtually,  the  whole  control.  The  other  branch  of  the  Legis- 
lature— the  House  of  Lords — cannot  turn  out  a  Government. 
We,  if  we  have  votes  enough,  can.  But  will  that  be  so  after 
this  ?  No.  That  which  we  now  have  exclusively  you  invite 
us  to  halve  with  the  other  branch  of  the  Legislature.  Now, 
I  have  said  I  do  not  wish  to  make  this  a  Party  dispute,  and, 
therefore,  I  do  not  want  hon.  Gentlemen  opposite  to  listen 
to  this,  which  I  offer  rather  as  consideration  to  Members  on 
this  side,  who  have  a  natural  tendency  to  say,  the  more  you 


and  the  Cession  of  Heligoland  263 

take  from  the  Crown  and  give  to  Parliament  the  better. 
That  is  a  presumption  in  the  Liberal  mind  ;  it  may  be  sound, 
it  may  be  right ;  I  do  not  discuss  it.  But  I  must  point  out 
that  what  is  now  proposed  is  to  take  a  power  which  we  now 
possess,  in  a  form  theoretically  irregular,  but  practically 
effective — to  take  this  power  out  of  our  hands  and  divide  it 
with  another  Assembly.  .  .  .  Such  a  change  ought  not  to  be 
made  sub  silentio.  ...  I  do  not  see  any  good  cause  for  touching 
the  Treaty-making  power  at  the  present  moment.' — Hansardy 
Parliamentary  Debates  (1890),  cccxlvii.  753,  761,  764,  765,  766, 
ySy,  768. 


Opinions  of  British  Foreign  Secretaries  on  publicity  and 
responsibility  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy  : 

(i)  Lord  Palmerston^  February  25,  1864  : 
'  Her  Majesty's  Government  are  responsible  to  this  House 
to  give  every  information  as  to  any  communications  which 
may  take  place  with  foreign  Governments  with  regard  to  our 
foreign  policy,  but  it  is  not  our  duty  to  state  to  this  House 
what  changes  may  have  been  made,  or  intended  to  be  made, 
from  time  to  time  before  or  after  a  despatch  may  have  been 
communicated  to  any  of  our  Ministers  abroad.' — Hansard, 
Third  Series,  clxxiii.  1103. 

(2)  The  Earl  of  Clarendon,  May  8,  1866  : 

'  Of  course,  we  have  always  been  ready  to  answer  any  inquiry 
that  might  have  been  addressed  to  us.  .  .  .  There  is  now  little 
of  that  secret  diplomacy  which  in  former  days  so  much  pre- 
vailed. There  is  on  the  part  of  every  Government — such  is 
the  power  of  public  opinion — so  great  an  anxiety  to  appeal  to 
it  and  obtain  its  support,  that  despatches  of  the  most  important 
character  and  entailing  the  gravest  consequences  are  no  sooner 
delivered  than  they  are  published  ;  and  the  telegram  secures 
that  there  shall  be  no  priority  of  information.' 

(3)  The  Marquess  of  Salisbury,  June  30,  1890,  in  reply  to 
the  Earl  of  Rosebery  who  had  asked,  whether  it  was  true,  as 
reported  in  a  recent  telegram,  that  the  right  of  fortifying  the 
island  of  Heligoland  was  to  be  subjected  to  restrictions : 


264        Publicity  and  Responsibility  in  the 

* ...  I  think  the  noble  Earl  is  aware  that  it  [the  question] 
answers  itself — of  course,  we  have  never  suggested  any  limita- 
tion to  the  power  of  the  German  Government  to  fortify  the 
island  if  they  please.  I  quite  recognise  that  the  noble  Earl 
and  his  friends  have  acted  with  great  consideration  in  reference 
to  all  these  affairs,  and  I  am  also  wilhng  to  concede  that  full 
information  is  due  to  them  ;  but  I  think  it  is  a  rule  that  has 
always  been  observed  in  the  Foreign  Ofl5ce,  and  a  very  valuable 
rule,  that  discussions  should  not  take  place  until  negotiations 
of  this  kind  are  concluded.  We  thought  it  desirable  to  issue 
a  Despatch  for  the  purpose  of  stating  what  our  general  inten- 
tions were ;  because  such  matters  as  these  become  subjects  of 
discussion  and  of  public  comment,  and  strange  and  distorted 
accounts  of  them  are  apt  to  get  before  the  public  eye.  .  .  . 

'  The  Earl  of  Rosebery  :  Would  the  noble  Marquess  object 
to  state  what  the  means  were  which  he  took  to  ascertain  the 
feelings  of  the  population  ? 

*  The  Marquess  of  Salisbury  :  Obviously  they  were  means  of 
a  confidential  character,  and,  therefore,  it  is  not  possible  for 
me  to  discuss  them. 

'  Earl  Granville :  Confidential  with  the  population,  does 
the  noble  Marquess  mean  ? ' — Ibid.^  cccxlvi.  305,  307. 

[Lord  SaHsbury,  when  in  Opposition,  spoke  as  follows  in 
the  House  of  Lords  on  May  12,  1885,  with  reference  to  Earl 
Granville's  assertion  of  the  great  danger  of  public  criticism  of 
negotiations  while  they  were  still  in  progress  between  Russia 
and  Britain  with  regard  to  Afghanistan  :  '  The  noble  Earl 
seemed  to  me  to  lay  down  a  doctrine  which  we  cannot  pass 
unnoticed,  when  he  says  it  is  the  duty  of  an  Opposition  not 
to  canvass  or  condemn  the  conduct  of  the  Government,  if 
by  so  doing  it  should  have  the  effect  of  discouraging  friends 
and  allies  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  That  seems  to  be  a  very 
far-reaching  doctrine,  and  one  which  it  is  impossible  to  assent 
to.  The  noble  Earl  must  remember  that  if  we  are  of  opinion 
that  the  course  of  public  affairs  is  going  ill,  and  that  our 
Government  has  mismanaged,  that  faults  are  being  committed 
and  dangers  are  being  incurred,  we  have  no  absolute  Sovereign 
to  whom  we  can  appeal  in  order  to  correct  the  evil ;  our 
absolute  Sovereign  is  the  people  of  this  country,  and  it  is 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  265 

they,  and  they  alone,  who  can  bring  a  remedy  to  the  mischief 
which  is  going  on.  You  have  a  form  of  Government  which  in 
many  points  is  purely  democratic,  and  you  must  take  it  with 
the  incidents  which  naturally  adhere  to  it,  and  one  of  these 
incidents  is  publicity  of  deliberation.  The  Cabinet  is  the 
authority  which  decides  in  the  first  instance,  and  it  decides 
in  secret,  and  it  rightly  maintains  its  secrecy  to  the  utmost, 
but  the  authority  to  which  you  must  appeal  from  the  Cabinet 
is  the  people,  and  their  deliberations  are  conducted  in  the 
open  field.  If  they  are  to  be  rightly  informed,  you  must  deal 
fully  and  frankly  with  the  subjects  which  form  the  basis  of 
their  determination.  It  is,  no  doubt,  a  drawback  so  far  as  it 
goes,  but  it  is  a  drawback  you  must  face,  and  you  cannot  help 
it  if  Foreign  Powers  overhear,  so  to  speak,  the  privileged 
communications  between  you  and  those  by  whose  verdict  you 
must  stand.  You  cannot  suppress  the  argument  because 
somebody  else  outside  hears  it  and  you  may  be  adversely 
affected  by  it.  You  might  as  well  say  that  you  will  allow 
a  trial  to  go  wrong,  because  counsel  hesitated  to  tell  the  jury 
the  whole  truth  as  it  appeared  to  him,  lest  some  one  outside 
should  be  offended  or  discouraged  by  the  language  used.'] 

(4)  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour,  speaking,  March  19,  1918,  on  the 
motion  '  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  a  Standing 
Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  should  be  appointed,  repre- 
sentative of  all  parties  and  groups  in  the  House,  in  order  that 
a  regular  channel  of  communication  may  be  established  between 
the  Foreign  Secretary  and  the  House  of  Commons,  which  will 
afford  him  frequent  opportunities  of  giving  information  on 
questions  of  Foreign  policy  and  which,  by  allowing  Members 
to  acquaint  themselves  more  fully  with  current  international 
problems,  will  enable  this  House  to  exercise  closer  supervision 
over  the  general  conduct  of  Foreign  affairs '  : 

'  He  ' — the  speaker  immediately  preceding — '  endeavoured 
to  regard  .  .  .  the  conduct  of  our  foreign  affairs  as  a  practical 
question  for  practical  men,  to  be  dealt  with,  not  according  to 
abstract  formulae,  but  according  to  the  real  necessities  of  the 
situation.  .  .  .  What  is  the  business  of  the  Foreign  Office  of 
this  country  and  of  every  other  country  in  its  aspect  of  an 
international   machine  ?      It    does    not    pursue   strange    and 


266         Publicity  and  Responsibility  in  the 

secret  aims.  I  think  the  British  world  perfectly  understands 
and  would  thoroughly  describe  the  broad  ends  for  which 
British  diplomacy  works.  Questions  are  perpetually  arising, 
sometimes  large,  sometimes  small,  ranging  perhaps  on  the  one 
side  from  some  great  boundary  question  between  two  great 
Empires  to  the  gas  lighting  of  Bangkok  on  the  other.  All  these 
questions  have  to  be  dealt  with  by  some  Department.  The 
objects  which  the  Government  have  in  view  in  dealing  with 
them  are  quite  simple,  quite  plain,  and  are  known  to  all  the 
world.  What  is  not  simple,  what  is  not  plain,  what  is  not 
easy,  is  the  actual  day-to-day  carrying  out  of  the  negotiations 
by  which  the  end  is  to  be  attained.  A  Foreign  Office  and 
a  Diplomatic  Service  are  great  instruments  for  preventing,  as 
far  as  can  be  prevented,  and  diminishing,  even  when  you 
cannot  prevent,  friction  between  States  which  are,  or  which 
ought  to  be,  friendly.  How  is  the  task  of  peace-maker — 
because  that  is  largely  the  task  which  falls  to  diplomatists 
and  to  the  Foreign  Office,  which  controls  diplomatists — to 
be  pursued  if  you  are  to  shout  your  grievances  from  the 
housetop  whenever  they  occur  ?  The  only  result  is  that  you 
embitter  public  feeling,  that  the  differences  between  the  two 
States  suddenly  attain  a  magnitude  they  ought  never  to  be 
allowed  to  approach,  that  the  newspapers  of  the  two  countries 
agitate  themselves,  that  the  Parliaments  of  the  two  countries 
have  their  passions  set  on  fire,  and  great  crises  arise,  which 
may  end,  have  ended  sometimes,  in  international  catastrophes. 
.  .  .  You  have  to  consider,  when  you  are  perfecting  your 
Parliamentary  machinery,  which,  in  the  main,  is  your  machinery 
of  criticism,  whether  you  are  not  weakening  your  machinery 
for  action.  This  House  is  not  an  executive  body,  cannot  be 
an  executive  body,  and  if  it  tried  to  be  an  executive  body 
would  do  its  work  altogether  abominably.  The  670  Gentlemen 
could  not  do  it,  and  no  delegation  to  Committee  Rooms  of 
forty  or  fifty  could  do  it.  That  is  not  the  way  the  work  of 
the  world  is  done  anywhere  if  it  is  done  effectively.  No  house 
of  business  manages  its  affairs  in  that  way  ;  no  Army  and  no 
Navy  manages  its  affairs  in  that  way.  Those  who  aspire  to 
that  ideal  of  popular  machinery  and  call  it  democratic  confuse 
administration  with  criticism  and  legislation.    Administration 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  267 

is  one  thing ;  criticism  and  legislation  are  another.  You 
should  have  your  control  over  those  who  manage  your  affairs, 
but  it  is  not  the  kind  of  control  which  the  hon.  Member 
wishes  to  set  up  with  his  Committee  of  forty  or  fifty.  It  is 
quite  a  different  control.  You  must  know,  broadly  speaking, 
what  the  general  lines  of  policy  are,  and  I  maintain  that  that 
is  thoroughly  known  with  regard  to  foreign  affairs  at  this 
moment  by  every  man  in  this  House  who  takes  the  trouble  to 
think.  The  general  lines  on  which  we  are  proceeding  are 
thoroughly  known.  If  the  House,  or  any  large  body  of  the 
House  thinks  we  are  proceeding  on  wrong  lines,  turn  us  out — 
that  is  the  proper  remedy — but  do  not  suppose  that  we  can 
do  the  work  better  by  having  to  explain  it  to  a  lot  of  people 
who  are  not  responsible.  That  is  not  the  way  to  get  business 
properly  done.^  ...  If  you  are  going  to  ask  Foreign  Office 
officials,  or  officials  of  any  Department,  to  expend  some  of 
their  energy  in  getting  ready  for  cross-examination,  you  will 
really  be  destroying  the  public  service.  There  is  nothing  on 
which  I  feel  more  strongly  than  that.  They  are  not  accustomed 
to  it,  and  they  ought  not  to  be  accustomed  to  it.  They  are 
not  trained  for  it,  and  they  ought  not  to  be  trained  for  it.  .  .  . 
I  beg  the  House  to  remember  that  any  system  which  keeps 

^  Mr.  Balfour  gave  evidence  on  these  lines  before  the  Select  Committee 
on  House  of  Commons  Procedure,  1914:  e.g.  '  1707.  On  the  whole,  you 
would  be  inclined  to  think  foreign  affairs  is  a  question  which  should  not 
be  aired  too  frequently  in  the  House  of  Commons  ? — That  is  my  opinion. 
I  think  neither  Indian  affairs  nor  foreign  affairs  are  very  fitting  subjects 
for  constant  discussion  and  debate.  Indiscreet  speeches,  the  value  of 
which  we  can  perfectly  weigh  within  the  House,  get  reported  and  circu- 
lated abroad,  or  in  India,  or  even  at  home  in  the  provinces,  and  very  often 
make  bad  blood  quite  unnecessarily,  and  raise  difficulties  which  might 
easily  have  been  avoided. 

*  1708.  Then,  you  do  not  think  the  uninformed  condition  of  the  House 
of  Commons  on  foreign  affairs  matters  ? — I  am  not  disposed  to  agree  that 
the  position  of  the  House  of  Commons  is  uninformed.  It  does  not  know, 
and  it  cannot  know,  and,  if  I  may  say  so,  it  ought  not  to  know  exactly 
what  passed  between  the  Foreign  Secretary  and  the  Ambassador  of  this 
or  that  Great  Power  in  such  a  conversation  on  such  and  such  a  day.  Such 
conversation  must  be  confidential  if  you  are  to  work  the  European  system 
at  all,  and  I  do  not  think  that  it  would  be  any  gain  to  the  peace  of  the 
world  or  our  own  national  interests,  if  670  prying  eyes  were  perpetually 
directed  towards  these  current  details  of  international  obligations.' 


268         Publicity  and  Responsibility  in  the 

constantly  before  the  eyes  of  the  civil  servants  of  this  country 
the  fear  of  examination,  cross-examination,  and  re-examina- 
tion by  gentlemen  who  may  be  described  as  professional 
politicians,  would  be  most  disastrous  in  the  public  interest. 
Therefore  ...  I  read  the  Resolution  with  very  little  sympathy. 
I  do  not  believe  it  is  democratic.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  prac- 
ticable. I  believe  the  evils  against  which  it  is  directed  are 
largely  illusory  evils.  I  do  not  hold  the  view  that  antique 
methods  are  pursued  by  diplomatists  which  ho  man  of  common 
sense  adopts  in  the  ordinary  work  of  everyday  life.  On  the 
contrary,  the  work  of  diplomacy  is  exactly  the  work  which  is 
done  every  day  between  two  great  firms,  for  instance,  which 
have  business  relations,  or  between  two  great  corporate 
entities  which  have  interests  diverging  or  interests  in  common. 
If  you  are  a  man  of  sense  you  do  not  create  difhculties  to  begin 
with.  You  try  to  get  over  all  these  things  without  the 
embitterment  which  advertisement  always  brings  with  it. 
It  is  when  you  begin  to  press  your  case  in  public  that  antag- 
onism arises.  In  private,  in  conversations  which  need  not  go 
beyond  the  walls  of  the  room  in  which  you  are,  you  can  put 
your  case  as  strongly  as  you  like,  and  the  gentleman  with 
whom  you  are  carrying  on  the  discussion  may  put  his  case  as 
strongly  as  he  likes,  and  if  good  manners  are  observed  and 
nothing  but  fair  discussion  takes  place  no  soreness  remains 
and  no  one  is  driven  to  ignore  the  strong  points  of  his  opponent's 
case.  Directly  a  controversy  becomes  public  all  that  fair 
give-and-take  becomes  either  difhcult  or  impossible,  and  if 
secret  diplomacy  meant  anything  so  idiotic  as  an  attempt  to 
discuss  in  public  matters  in  which  sentiment,  international 
pride,  and  international  interests  were  profoundly  concerned, 
I  do  not  think  that  any  sane  assembly  would  ever  really  try 
to  carry  it  out  in  the  day-to-day  national  work  which  has  to 
be  got  through.  But  if  all  you  mean  ...  is  that  it  is  wrong  for 
the  nations  of  the  world  to  find  themselves  hampered  in  their 
mutual  relations  by  treaties  of  which  those  countries  know 
nothing,  that,  I  think,  is  an  evil.  I  do  not  say  that  there  have 
not  been  secret  treaties  which  were  inevitable ;  but  I  do  say 
that,  if  they  are  necessary,  they  are  a  necessary  evil.  Please 
remember  that  two  nations  make  a  treaty  together  for  their 


Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy  269 

mutual  advantage.  Both  are  desirous  of  passing  it.  One 
nation  says,  "  It  is  against  our  interest  that  this  treaty  should 
be  made  public  at  present  ".  The  other  says,  "  We  do  not 
like  being  committed  to  any  treaty  the  terms  of  which  we 
cannot  make  public  at  once ".  Which  is  going  to  prevail  ? 
Hon.  Gentlemen  talk  as  if  it  rested  with  the  British  Foreign 
Office  to  decide  in  every  case  whether  a  particular  treaty  shall 
be  treated  publicly  or  confidentially.  It  does  not  rest  with 
any  single  Foreign  Office,  British  or  other.  It  is  always  an 
arrangement  between  two,  possibly  three  or  four,  Foreign 
Offices.  You  cannot  lay  down,  and  I  do  not  think  you  would 
be  wise  to  lay  down,  an  absolute  rule  that  under  no  circum- 
stances, and  for  no  object,  could  you  so  far  concede  the  point 
as  to  say  that  a  treaty  is  to  be  made  which  is  not  to  become 
public  property.  I  am  perfectly  ready  to  admit  that  that  is 
not  a  process  which,  to  me,  is  a  very  agreeable  one.  To 
reduce  secret  treaties  to  the  narrowest  possible  limits  should, 
I  think,  be  the  object  of  every  responsible  statesman  who  has 
the  control  of  foreign  affairs.  Beyond  that  I  do  not  feel 
inclined  to  go.  I  do  not  see  any  signs  of  a  grasp  of  the  true 
realities  of  life  in  the  Motion  before  us.  I  do  not  stand  here 
to  defend  ancient  forms  and  worn-out  ceremonies.  I  stand 
here  to  defend  the  common-sense  carrying  out  of  great  inter- 
national objects,  and  those  objects,  so  far  as  this  country  is 
concerned,  are,  first,  to  obtain  peace,  and  then  to  maintain 
peace.  I  do  not  see  that  there  can  be,  or  ought  to  be,  any 
collision  between  the  Government  and  any  section  of  this 
House  upon  the  general  aims  of  British  policy ;  still  less  can 
I  see  anything  in  our  system  that  can  be  described  as  antag- 
onistic, inconsistent  with  or  opposed  to  the  true  principles  of 
democracy,  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  actual  facts  of 
national  life  as  we  see  them  before  us.  I,  therefore,  shall 
resist  the  Motion.' — Parliamentary  Debates^  House  of  Commons, 
Tuesday,  19th  March,  191 8,  Vol.  104,  865,  867-8,  872-6. 


270       Treatment  of  International  Questions 


Ihe  Treatment  of  International  Questions  by  Parliaments  in 
France,  Germany ,  and  the  United  States  of  America  : 

I.  France  : 

*  According  to  the  French  constitution,  the  President  of 
the  Republic  negotiates  and  ratifies  treaties  with  foreign 
Powers.  These  treaties  are  then  to  be  communicated  to  the 
Senate  and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  as  soon  as  is  compatible 
with  due  regard  to  the  interests  and  security  of  the  State. 
Treaties  of  peace  and  commerce,  and  those  which  affect  the 
finances  of  the  State,  the  status  of  persons  and  the  rights  of 
property  of  French  citizens  abroad,  are  only  binding  after 
they  have  been  approved  by  a  vote  in  the  two  Houses.  No 
cession,  exchange,  or  acquisition  of  territory  may  take  place 
without  a  law  be  passed  to  authorise  it. 

'  It  may  here  be  remarked  that  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  of  the 
13th  July,  1878,  was  ratified  by  the  President  of  the  Republic, 
and  promulgated  without  the  approval  of  Parliament  being 
asked,  presumably  because  it  was  not  considered  as  falling 
within  any  of  the  above-mentioned  categories  of  treaties. 

'  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  appoints  sixteen  grand  com- 
mittees at  the  beginning  of  each  fresh  Legislature,  to  examine 
and  report  on  questions  concerning  the  various  departments  of 
the  State  with  which  the  House  is  called  upon  to  deal.  One 
of  these  committees  is  "  La  Commission  des  Affaires  ext6- 
rieures  et  coloniales ".  It  is  elected  for  the  whole  legislative 
period  (four  years),  and  composed  of  forty-four  members, 
designated  by  the  various  political  groups  in  proportion  to 
their  numerical  strength.  This  choice  has  to  be  confirmed  by 
the  Chamber  at  a  public  sitting.  The  committee  does  not 
examine  the  Budget  for  Foreign  Affairs,  as  the  yearly  credits 
for  that  department  are  discussed  by  the  General  Budget 
Committee  ("  Commission  du  Budget  ").  The  Foreign  Affairs 
Committee  reports  to  the  Chamber  on  all  questions  relating 
to  foreign  policy  which  are  submitted  to  it.  It  may  summon 
before  it  any  persons  whose  evidence  may  be  of  a  nature  to 
guide  it  in  its  deliberations,  but  when  these  persons  hold  an 


by  Parliament  in  France  271 

official  post,  the  Minister  concerned  must  first  give  his  consent, 
with  or  without  the  condition  that  professional  secrecy  is  to 
be  observed.  A  Minister  himself  may  be  requested  to  appear 
and  give  explanations  to  the  committee  on  points  of  policy. 
Although,  in  theory,  a  Minister  is  not  obliged  to  appear  before 
the  committee,  a  refusal  to  do  so  would  not  be  in  harmony 
with  French  parliamentary  traditions.  All  papers  which  the 
committee  desires  to  consult  are  communicated  to  it  through 
its  chairman  by  the  competent  Minister.  Should  the  latter 
consider  that  reasons  of  State  forbid  him  to  communicate  any 
document  thus  asked  for,  the  Minister  informs  the  chairman 
of  the  committee,  which  usually  acquiesces  in  the  Minister's 
view.  If  the  committee  persists  in  its  demand,  the  matter 
is  brought  before  the  Chamber.  Should  the  latter  support 
the  committee,  such  action  is  likely  to  bring  about  a  Ministerial 
crisis. 

'  In  certain  cases,  the  Committee  for  Foreign  Affairs  may 
be  invested  by  the  Chamber  with  the  powers  of  a  special 
commission  of  enquiry.  These  powers  include  the  right  of 
hearing  sworn  witnesses  and  of  pursuing  investigations  in  any 
part  of  France  or  abroad. 

'  There  is  no  permanently  constituted  Committee  for 
Foreign  Affairs  in  the  Senate.  Bills  submitted  to  this  Assembly 
concerning  foreign  affairs  are  referred  to  a  special  committee. 
In  some  cases,  especially  when  the  matter  is  pressing,  they  are 
merely  referred  to  the  Senate  Finance  Committee.  The 
same  rules  respecting  the  summoning  of  witnesses,  official  or 
non-official,  as  obtain  in  the  case  of  the  Committee  for  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  Chamber  apply  in  the  committees  of  the  Senate. 

'  The  General  Budget  Committee  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  which  is  the  most  important  of  all  parliamentary 
committees,  is  also  composed  of  forty-four  members  nominated 
by  the  House  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Committee  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  but,  unlike  the  latter,  is  elected  for  one  year 
only.  It  appoints  a  reporter  ^  for  each  of  the  departmental 
budgets,  who,  for  the  purposes  of  his  report,  has  necessarily 
to    be   in    close    touch   with   the  Minister  and  departments 

^  For  this,  and  for  a  comparison  of  the  French  system  with  the  British, 
see  Ilbert,  Legislative  Methods  and  Forms  (1901),  pp.  108-10, 


272      Treatment  of  International  Questions 

concerned,  from  whom  the  greater  part  of  the  information 
contained  in  the  report  has  to  be  derived. 

'  The  report  on  foreign  affairs  of  the  Budget  Committee  is 
a  valuable  annual  record  of  French  policy.  It  is  published 
generally  towards  the  end  of  each  year. 

*  Interpellations  respecting  foreign  policy  by  individual 
deputies  on  their  own  initiative,  or  in  the  character  of  spokes- 
men of  their  political  group,  are  frequent  in  the  French 
Parliament.  In  many  cases,  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
accepts  an  immediate  decision ;  in  others,  he  requests  the 
permission  of  the  House  to  postpone  it  to  some  later  and 
unspecified  date,  or  to  join  it  on  to  other  questions  of  which 
notice  has  been  given  so  as  to  form  a  general  debate  on  foreign 
policy.' — Treatment  of  International  Questions  by  Parliaments 
in  European  Countries^  the  United  States,  and  Japan.  Par- 
liamentary Papers,  Miscellaneous,  No.  5  (191 2),  [Cd.  6102], 
pp.  7-8. 

II.  Germany : 

'  Parliamentary  participation  or  intervention,  actual  or 
possible,  in  the  conduct  of  the  foreign  aflFairs  of  the  German 
Empire,  could  be  fully  defined  only  by  an  exhaustive  examina- 
tion of  the  theory  and  working  of  the  Federal  and  State 
machineries.  The  considerations  most  necessary  to  bear  in 
mind  are  : 

*  I.  The  powers  expressly  reserved  by  the  constitution  of 
the  German  Empire  to  the  Emperor,  as  laid  down  in  article  1 1 
of  the  constitution,  which  runs  as  follows : 

* "  The  Presidency  of  the  Federation  is  vested  in  the  King 
of  Prussia,  who  bears  the  name  of  German  Emperor.  The 
Emperor  has  to  represent  the  Empire  internationally ;  to 
declare  war  and  to  conclude  peace  in  the  name  of  the  Empire  ; 
to  enter  into  alliances  and  other  treaties  with  foreign  Powers  ; 
to  accredit  and  receive  Ambassadors. 

*  "  The  consent  of  the  Federal  Council  is  necessary  for  the 
declaration  of  war  in  the  name  of  the  Empire,  unless  an  attack 
on  the  territory  or  the  coast  of  the  Federation  has  taken  place. 

' "  In  so  far  as  treaties  with  foreign  States  have  reference 
to  affairs  which,  according  to  article  4,  belong  to  the  domain 


by  Parliament  in  Germany  273 

of  Imperial  legislation,  the  consent  of  the  Federal  Council  is 
requisite  for  their  conclusion,  and  the  sanction  of  the  Reichstag 
for  their  coming  into  force."  ' 

(Article  4  gives  a  list  of  the  affairs  which  are  subject  to  the 
superintendence  and  legislation  of  the  Empire.) 

*  2.  The  relations  between  the  Reichstag  and  the  Imperial 
Chancellor,  who  is  solely  responsible  for  the  Government 
departments,  including  the  Foreign  Office,  and  is  not  respon- 
sible to  the  Reichstag  ;  and 

*  3.  The  limitation  of  the  effective  powers  of  the  Reichstag 
to  a  share  in  legislation. 

*  In  practice  the  Reichstag  deals  with  foreign  affairs  {a)  in 
connection  with  the  Imperial  Budget,  which,  including  as  it 
does  the  estimates  for  the  office  of  the  Imperial  Chancellor 
and  the  Foreign  Office,  is  embodied  in  an  annual  Bill,  which 
requires  the  consent  of  the  Reichstag  before  it  can  be  passed 
into  law,  and  {b)  by  occasional  debates  on  interpellations,  or 
{c)  more  rarely,  on  motions. 

'  {a)  The  Budget  Bill,  like  other  Bills,  is  read  three  times. 
The  first  reading  stage  consists  of  a  general  discussion,  which 
falls  naturally  into  discussions  on  foreign  and  home  affairs 
respectively.  The  second  reading  stage  consists  of,  first, 
detailed  debate  in  committee  (see  special  remarks  appended 
on  the  Budget  Committee),  and,  secondly,  the  debate  on 
the  report  to  the  whole  House.  Both  in  committee  and  on 
report  the  estimates  for  the  separate  departments  are  taken  in 
succession.  In  committee  there  is  usually  a  considerable 
debate  on  the  Foreign  Office  estimates,  and  confidential  com- 
munications are  made  by  the  Imperial  Chancellor,  or  more 
usually  the  Foreign  Secretary,  and  if  necessary  by  Foreign 
Office  officials.  On  report  also  there  is  often  a  fairly  long 
debate  on  the  Foreign  Office  estimates,  in  which  the  Imperial 
Chancellor  generally  takes  part.  Foreign  questions  appear  to 
be  seldom  raised  on  the  third  reading  of  the  estimates. 

*  {b)  The  only  way  in  which  questions  can  be  addressed  in 
the  Reichstag  to  the  Imperial  Chancellor — ^for  since  the 
subordinate  Ministers,  including  the  Foreign  Secretary, 
appear  solely  as  the  Chancellor's  representatives,  questions 
cannot  be  addressed  to  them,  though  they  are  often  deputed 

2224  T 


274      Treatment  of  International  Questions 

to  answer  them — is  by  the  tabling  of  an  interpellation,  signed 
by  not  less  than  thirty  deputies.  On  the  day  when  the  inter- 
pellation is  placed  on  the  order  paper  the  president  asks  the 
Imperial  Chancellor  "  whether  and  when  "  he  will  answer  the 
interpellation.  If  the  Chancellor  consents  to  answer,  the 
interpellator  delivers  a  speech,  the  Chancellor  or  his  repre- 
sentative replies,  and  a  debate  may  follow  if  it  is  desired  by 
not  less  than  fifty  members.  Motions  on  the  subject  of  the 
interpellation  are  not  permissible. 

*  (f)  Motions  of  any  kind  can  be  tabled  if  signed  by  not  less 
than  fifteen  deputies,  and  if  they  are  not  withdrawn  after 
debate,  votes  are  taken  upon  them.  The  presentation  of 
critical  motions  is,  however,  almost  invariably  checked  by 
the  knowledge  that  the  Imperial  Chancellor  or  his  "  repre- 
sentatives "  will  neither  take  part  in  nor  even  attend  the 
debate,  and  by  the  fact  that  a  motion  which  is  carried  remains 
an  academic  expression  of  opinion.  The  small  number  of 
interpellations,  and  motions  on  foreign  questions  during  the 
last  session  ^  of  the  Reichstag  shows  to  what  extent  that  body 
makes  use  of  its  powers  apart  from  the  annual  discussion  on 
the  estimates. 

*  As  will  appear  from  what  has  been  said,  deputies  have 
no  power  to  put  questions  except  by  means  of  the  procedure 
for  interpellations  which  has  been  described. 

*  It  has  been  observed  that  the  effective  powers  of  the 
Reichstag  are  limited  to  a  share  in  legislation.  The  necessity 
therefore  for  the  Government  to  consult  the  Reichstag  arises 
in  international  questions  only  when  legislation  is  necessary 
(see  last  paragraph  of  article  ii  of  the  constitution,  quoted 
above).  A  case  has  recently  arisen  of  an  important  treaty 
which  was  found  not  to  involve  legislation,  and  therefore  not 
to  require  the  Reichstag's  consent.  The  "  Bundesgebiet ", 
or  federal  territory,  is  defined  by  article  i  of  the  constitution, 
which  gives  a  list  of  all  the  Federal  States,  and  "  alterations 
of  the  constitution  can  be  effected  only  by  legislation.  They 
are  considered  as  rejected  if  they  have  14  votes  in  the  Federal 
Council  against  them  "  (article  78  of  the  constitution).    The 

*  This  Report  was  transmitted  from  Berlin  by  Earl  Granville  to 
Sir  Edward  Grey  at  the  Foreign  Office  in  December  1911. 


by  Parliament  in  Germany  275 

colonies  do  not  form  part  of  the  "  Bundesgebiet ".  The 
Franco-German  Treaty,  ceding  and  acquiring  territory  in  the 
Cameroons  and  Congo,  did  not  therefore  require  to  be  accepted 
by  the  Reichstag,  and  was  in  fact  merely  communicated  to 
the  House.  In  view  of  the  dissatisfaction  caused  by  the  dis- 
covery of  this  fact,  the  Reichstag  on  the  5th  December,  with 
the  assent  of  the  Government,  read  three  times  and  passed  a 
law  which  causes  the  following  paragraph  to  be  inserted  in  the 
Colonial  Law  of  the  25th  July,  1900  ("  Schutzgebietsgesetz  ") : 

' "  An  Imperial  law  is  required  for  the  acquisition  and 
cession  of  a  protectorate,  or  part  of  such.  This  provision  does 
not  apply  to  the  question  of  the  adjustment  of  frontiers." 

'  It  remains  to  consider  the  practical  or  possible  influence 
of  the  State  Diets  upon  foreign  affairs.  Although  the  separate 
States  retain  Ministers  for  Foreign  Affairs  (usually  the 
Ministers-President),  and  the  right  to  separate  representation 
abroad — Bavaria,  for  instance,  has  Ministers  at  Vienna, 
St.  Petersburgh,  Paris,  and  Rome  (Vatican  and  Quirinal), 
and  Saxony  at  Vienna — foreign  relations  are  now  conducted 
almost  entirely  {a)  in  Germany,  by  the  Imperial  Foreign 
Office  in  Berlin,  which  was  raised  to  federal  status  out  of  the 
Prussian  Foreign  Office  in  1867,  and  {b)  abroad,  by  the 
Ambassadors  and  Ministers  appointed  by  the  Emperor  (see 
article  11).  Attempts  are  sometimes  made  to  raise  in  the 
State  Diets — especially  at  Dresden,  Munich,  and  Stuttgart — 
questions  of  State  policy  in  the  Empire's  foreign  relations. 
Such  questions  can  be  referred  to  in  general  debates,  or  inter- 
pellations may  be  introduced.  The  question  usually  asked  is 
what  influence  the  Government  of  the  State  in  question  has 
exercised  in  Berlin,  and  especially  whether  there  has  been 
a  meeting  of  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee  of  the  Federal 
Council.  This  committee  is  essentially  different  from  the 
seven  permanent  committees  of  the  Federal  Council. 

'  By  article  8  of  the  constitution  :  "  The  Federal  Council 
forms  permanent  committees  from  its  own  members : 

1.  For  the  land-army  and  fortresses  ; 

2.  For  naval  affairs ; 

3.  For  customs  and  taxes ; 

4.  For  commerce  and  intercourse  ; 

T  2 


476      Treatment  of  International  Questions 

5.  For  railways,  posts,  and  telegraphs ; 

6.  For  affairs  of  justice  ; 

7.  For  finances. 

* "  In  each  of  these  committees,  besides  the  presidency,  at 
least  four  of  the  Federal  States  will  be  represented,  and  in 
the  committees  each  State  has  only  one  vote.  In  the  committee 
for  the  land-army  and  fortresses  Bavaria  has  a  permanent  seat ; 
the  other  members  thereof,  as  well  as  the  members  for  the 
naval  committee,  are  nominated  by  the  Emperor  ;  the  members 
of  the  other  committees  are  elected  by  the  Federal  Council. 
The  composition  of  these  committees  is  to  be  renewed  for 
every  session  of  the  Federal  Council  or  every  year,  as  the  case 
may  be,  when  the  outgoing  members  may  be  re-elected. 

* "  Besides  these,  a  committee  for  foreign  affairs  will  be 
formed  in  the  Federal  Council,  comprised  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Kingdoms  of  Bavaria,  Saxony,  and  Wurtemberg, 
and  of  two  other  representatives  of  other  Federal  States,  who 
will  be  yearly  elected  by  the  Federal  Council,  in  which  com- 
mittee Bavaria  will  occupy  the  chair. 

*  "  The  necessary  officials  will  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
these  committees." 

*  As  the  foreign  affairs  committee  of  the  Federal  Council 
exists  solely  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  information  about 
foreign  affairs,  which  is  usually  conveyed  by  the  Imperial 
Chancellor  himself,  and  of  providing  means  for  an  exchange  of 
views,  Prussia,  in  whom  the  actual  conduct  of  foreign  affairs 
is  vested,  is  not  a  member  of  the  committee.  The  proceedings 
are  confidential,  and  State  Ministers,  when  questioned  in 
their  respective  Diets,  usually  say  nothing  more  than  that  the 
information  conveyed  to  the  committee  has  been  satisfactory, 
and  that  unanimity  has  prevailed.  In  reality,  the  committee 
has  met  on  very  few  occasions  since  the  foundation  of  the 
Empire,  but  since  the  domestic  crisis  of  November  1908  it 
has  become  the  practice  for  Bavaria  to  call  meetings  in  connec- 
tion with  any  foreign  question  of  great  magnitude  and  lasting 
public  interest.  From  1871  to  1908  only  two  meetings  of 
the  committee  appear  to  have  been  held.  Since  1908  there 
have  been  several  meetings,  including  one  before  the  meeting 
of  the  Reichstag  in  October  of  the  present  year. 


by  Parliament  in  Germany  277 

'  The  Budget  Committee  of  the  Reichstag 

*  Besides  the  estimates,  questions  of  great  public  interest, 
especially  in  connection  with  foreign  affairs,  are  occasionally 
referred  to  the  Budget  Committee. 

'  It  consists  of  twenty-eight  members,,  appointed  by  the 
leaders  of  the  various  parties  in  the  Reichstag,  who  alone  have 
power  to  add  to  or  make  any  alteration  in  the  committee. 

'  A  reporter  ("  Referent ")  and  assistant-reporter  are 
appointed,  who  can  work  separately  or  together  as  they  like, 
and  who  report  verbally  to  the  whole  committee. 

'  There  are  no  regular  sub-committees.  These  are  occa- 
sionally appointed  by  the  committee,  and  consist  of  from 
three  to  seven  members. 

'  Neither  the  sub-committees  nor  the  Budget  Committee 
itself  have  the  right  to  send  for  persons,  papers,  or  records, 
but  they  can,  and  often  do,  ask  the  president  of  the  Reichstag 
to  do  so. 

*  After  the  Budget  Committee  has  received  and  considered 
the  reports  of  the  various  reporters,  a  general  reporter  is 
appointed  who  reports  verbally  to  the  Reichstag. 

'  The  distribution  of  the  questions  to  be  reported  on  is 
made  by  the  heads  of  the  committee  after  agreement  with 
the  members. 

*  Ministers  can  always  make  statements  in  the  committee. 

*  The  proceedings  are  secret,  but  reports  of  the  sittings  are 
issued.' — Ibid.^  pp.  8-1 1. 

III.  United  States  of  America  : 

Mr.  James  Bryce,  in  transmitting,  on  January  31,  1912, 
a  memorandum  prepared  by  the  councillor  of  the  British 
embassy  at  Washington,  wrote  : 

'  Upon  the  general  subject  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  when 
the  United  States  constitution  was  formed,  the  question 
arose  as  to  the  authorities  of  the  Government  in  which  the 
control  of  foreign  affairs  should  be  vested.  To  have  given  it 
to  the  executive  alone,  following  the  precedent  of  England,* 

*  This  is  not  wholly  true  of  England,  since  even  in  the  eighteenth  century 
the  executive,  in  so  far  as  Ministers  and  a  Cabinet  stood  for  the  executive, 
was  to  a  considerable  extent  dependent  upon  the  Houses  of  Parliament 
for  its  own  life  and  for  security  of  policy. 

T3 


278       Treatment  of  International  Questions 

seemed  open  to  objection  as  entrusting  to  him  a  range  of 
discretionary  power  which  might  easily  have  been  abused. 
On  the  other  hand,  to  confide  it  to  any  council  would  have 
made  negotiations  much  more  difficult,  and  probably  have 
impeded  prompt  action  in  cases  where  promptitude  was 
needed.  The  result  was  the  plan  of  entrusting  the  initiative 
to  the  executive  and  the  power  of  sanction  to  the  Senate, 
which  was  intended,  being  a  small  body  at  the  time  the 
constitution  was  made,  to  be,  although  elective,  something 
resembling  the  older  forms  of  the  English  Privy  Council.  It 
was  thought  that  a  comparatively  large  body  like  the  House  of 
Representatives  was  not  well  fitted  to  join  in  the  exercise  of 
such  functions. 

'  The  capital  difference  between  the  United  States  system 
and  our  own  lies  in  the  fact  that  here  the  President  holds 
office  for  a  fixed  period  by  direct  commission  from  the  people, 
irrespective  of  the  Legislature,  while  in  Great  Britain  the 
Ministry  is  dependent  on  the  confidence  and  support  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  Had  the  people  of  the  United  States 
left  the  control  of  foreign  affairs  and  the  treaty-making  power 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  executive,  they  would  have  given 
to  it  a  power  greater,  because  unchecked  by  the  Legislature, 
than  a  Cabinet  enjoys  in  England.  If  a  President  had  resolved 
to  follow  a  course  deemed  dangerous  by  the  Legislature, 
there  would  have  been  no  means  of  stopping  him  in  that 
course  until  the  end  of  his  term,  except,  indeed,  by  the  extreme 
method  of  impeachment — a  tedious  method  and  one  hard  to 
apply  in  practice.  It  was  therefore  deemed  necessary  to 
associate  the  Senate  with  the  President  in  this  important 
function.  In  Great  Britain  the  practice  has  been  to  allow  the 
Cabinet  to  use  the  ancient  powers  of  the  Crown  with  com- 
paratively little  interference  by  Parliament,  because  the 
House  of  Commons  has,  by  its  practice  of  interrogating 
Ministers,  the  means  of  knowing  what  course  in  foreign  affairs 
they  are  following,  and,  if  it  disapproves  that  course,  of  indi- 
cating its  disapproval.  Each  country  can  therefore  advance 
solid  reasons  on  behalf  of  its  own  system.' — Ibid.y  p.  26 ;  and 
«ee,  further,  pp.  26-33. 

[In  the  discussions  that  led  to  the  framing  of  the  Constitu- 


by  Parliament  in  the  United  States         279 

tion,  it  was  proposed  by  Madison,  Hamilton,  and  Jay  that 
the  Executive  should  be  appointed  '  during  good  behaviour, 
or  in  other  words  for  life  '.  Other  members  of  the  Convention 
proposed  that  the  appointment  be  for  seven  years.  The 
proposal  that  it  be  for  four  years  was  carried.  '  The  ingredients 
which  constitute  energy  in  the  Executive ',  says  Mr.  Justice 
Story,  following  Hamilton  in  The  Federalist^  '  are  unity^ 
duration,  an  adequate  provision  for  its  support,  and  com* 
petent  powers.  The  ingredients  which  constitute  safety  ia 
a  republican  form  of  government  are  a  due  dependence  on  the 
people,  and  a  due  responsibility  to  the  people.'  ^  '  A  govern- 
ment ill  executed,  whatever  may  be  its  theory,  must,  in  prac- 
tice, be  a  bad  government.'  ^  '  Whether  the  period  of  four 
years  will  answer  the  purpose  for  which  the  Executive  depart-? 
ment  is  established,  so  as  to  give  it  at  once  energy  and  safety^ 
and  to  preserve  a  due  balance  in  the  administration  of  the 
Government,  is  a  problem  which  can  be  solved  only  by 
experience.  That  it  will  contribute  far  more  than  a  shorter 
period  towards  these  objects,  and  thus  have  a  material 
influence  upon  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  Government, 
may  be  safely  affirmed.'  * 

The  study  of  this  subject  may  with  advantage  be  pursued 
in  The  Federalist,  especially  in  five  letters — Ixii-lxvi — chiefly 
by  Hamilton  on  the  Senate,  and  in  letters  Ixix-lxxv  on  the 
Executive,  by  Hamilton ;  in  Tocqueville's  La  Democratie 
(n  Amerique,  and  in  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth.  '  To 
trace  the  mischievous  effects  of  a  mutable  government  would 
fill  a  volume ',  wrote  Hamilton.  '  It  forfeits  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  other  nations  and  all  the  advantages  connected 
with  national  character.'  ^  '  As  for  myself  ',  said  De  Tocque- 
ville,  '  I  have  no  hesitation  in  avowing  my  conviction,  that  it 
is  most  especially  in  the  conduct  of  foreign  relations  that 
democratic  governments  appear  to  me  to  be  decidedly 
inferior  to  governments  carried  on  upon  different  principles." 
Experience,  instruction,  and  habit  may  almost  always  succeed 
in  creatinga  species  of  practical  discretion  in  democracies,  and 

*  No.  Ixx.  2  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  (1833),  §  141 8. 
'  Ibid.,  §  1417.  *  Ibid.,  §  1439.    See  also  §  1515. 

*  The  Federalist,  No.  Ixii. 


28o      Treatment  of  International  Questions 

that  science  of  the  daily  occurrences  of  life  which  is  called 
good  sense.  Good  sense  may  suffice  to  direct  the  ordinary 
course  of  society ;  and  amongst  a  people  whose  education  has 
been  provided  for,  the  advantages  of  democratic  liberty  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  the  country  may  more  than  compensate 
for  the  evils  inherent  in  a  democratic  government.  But  such 
is  not  always  the  case  in  the  mutual  relations  of  foreign  nations. 
Foreign  politics  demand  scarcely  any  of  those  qualities  which 
a  democracy  possesses ;  and  they  require,  on  the  contrary, 
the  perfect  use  of  almost  all  those  faculties  in  which  it  is 
deficient.  Democracy  is  favourable  to  the  increase  of  the 
internal  resources  of  a  State ;  it  tends  to  diffuse  a  moderate 
independence ;  it  promotes  the  growth  of  public  spirit,  and 
fortifies  the  respect  which  is  entertained  for  law  in  all  classes 
of  society :  and  these  are  advantages  which  only  exercise  an 
indirect  influence  over  the  relations  which  one  people  bears 
to  another.  But  a  democracy  is  unable  to  regulate  the  details 
of  an  important  undertaking,  to  persevere  in  a  design,  and 
to  work  out  its  execution  in  the  presence  of  serious  obstacles. 
It  cannot  combine  its  measures  with  secrecy,  and  it  will  not 
await  their  consequences  with  patience.'  ^  *  In  all  free 
countries ',  writes  Lord  (then  Mr.)  Bryce,  '  it  is  most  difficult 
to  define  the  respective  spheres  of  the  legislature  and  executive 
in  foreign  affairs,  for  while  publicity  and  parliamentary  control 
are  needed  to  protect  the  people,  promptitude  and  secrecy 
are  the  conditions  of  diplomatic  success.  Practically,  however, 
and  for  the  purposes  of  ordinary  business,  the  President  is 
independent  of  the  House,  while  the  Senate,  though  it  can 
prevent  his  settling  anything,  cannot  keep  him  from  unsettling 
everything.  He,  or  rather  his  Secretary  of  State,  for  the 
President  has  rarely  leisure  to  give  close  or  continuous  atten- 
tion to  foreign  policy,  retains  an  unfettered  initiative,  by 
means  of  which  he  may  embroil  the  country  abroad  or  excite 
passion  at  home.'  ^ 

Mr.  Balfour,  in  the  discussion  already  referred  to  *  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  on  March  19,  191 8,  alludes  to  both  the 

•  La  Democratie  en  Amerique,  ch.  xiv.  (translation  by  Henry  Reeves). 

•  The  American  Commonwealtb,  part  I,  ch.  vi. 

•  Above,  pp.  265  sqq. 


by  Parliament  in  the  United  States        281 

French  Parliamentary  Committee  and  the  American  Foreign 
Relations  Committee.  The  French  Committee  '  does  not 
really  make  French  diplomacy  more  democratic  or  less  con* 
cerned  in  the  interchange  of  ideas  through  the  ordinary 
diplomatic  channels  than  British  diplomacy.  .  .  .  What  I  have 
heard  about  the  working  of  the  French  Committee  does  not 
make  me  specially  desirous  of  seeing  it  introduced  into  this 
country.'  ^  '  The  American  Foreign  Relations  Committee 
stands  on  a  wholly  different  basis,  for  this  reason  among  others, 
that  the  American  Minister  responsible  for  foreign  affairs  is 
not,  and  cannot  be,  a  member  either  of  the  House  of  Reprc 
sentatives  or  of  the  Senate.  His  only  connection  with  the 
Legislature  of  his  country  is  through  the  Committee.  If 
that  is  the  system  on  which  your  Constitution  is  to  work, 
there  may  be  a  great  deal  to  be  said  for  it ;  indeed,  a  Com- 
mittee seems  to  me  to  be  very  nearly  a  necessity.  If  you  are 
going  to  exclude  your  Ministers  from  this  House,  very  likely 
you  would  find  it  desirable  to  have  a  Committee  to  act  as 
intermediary  between  them  and  the  House.  But  that  is 
a  change  which  none  of  us  are  going  to  live  to  see,  and  which 
certainly  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  in  the  democratic  direction. 
What  this  House  desires  is  to  be  in  contact  with  the  Ministers 
who  control  its  affairs  and  to  turn  them  out  if  it  does  not  like 
them.  That  is  not  the  American  system.  The  American 
system  is  that  Ministers  of  the  day  depend  upon  the  President 
of  the  day,  that  the  President  of  the  day  is  elected  by  direct 
popular  election,  and  that  during  his  term  of  office  he  is,  in 
that  sense,  quite  independent  of  the  approval  or  disapproval 
of  Congress.'  ^ 

We  have  not  travelled  far  beyond  the  wise  words  of  the 
author-statesman,  Alexander  Hamilton,  writing  in  The 
Federalist^  against  the  participation  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  the  treaty-making  power.  '  The  fluctuating 
and,  taking  its  future  increase  into  account,  the  multitudinous 
composition  of  that  body,  forbid  us  to  expect  in  it  those 
qualities  which  are  essential  to  the  proper  execution  of  such 
a  trust.     Accurate  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  foreign 

^  Parliamentary  Debates,  House  of  Commons,  vol.  104,  869. 

2  Ibid,  ^  No.  Ixxv.    See  the  Preface  to  this  work. 


282    Dominions  and  Control  of  Foreign  Policy 

politics ;  a  steady  and  systematic  adherence  to  the  sam6 
views ;  a  nice  and  uniform  sensibility  .to  national  character ; 
decision,  secrecy^  and  despatch  are  incompatible  with  the 
genius  of  a  body  so  variable  and  so  numerous.  The  very 
complication  of  the  business,  by  introducing  a  necessity  of 
the  concurrence  of  so  many  different  bodies,  would  of  itself 
afford  a  solid  objection.'  ^J 


7he  Dominions  and  the  Control  of  Foreign  Policy  before  the 
Paris  War  Conference. 

(i)  The  following  Resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Imperial 
War  Conference  on  April  i6,  1917  : 

•  '  The  Imperial  War  Conference  are  of  opinion  that  the 
readjustment  of  the  constitutional  relations  of  the  component 
parts  of  the  Empire  is  too  important  and  too  intricate  a  subject 
to  be  dealt  with  during  the  War,  and  that  it  should  form  the 
subject  of  a  special  Imperial  Conference  to  be  summoned  as 
soon  as  possible  after  the  cessation  of  hostilities. 

*  They  deem  it  their  duty,  however,  to  place  on  record 
their  view  that  any  such  readjustment,  while  thoroughly 
preserving  all  existing  powers  of  self-government,  and  complete 
control  of  domestic  affairs,  should  be  based  upon  a  full  recog- 
nition of  the  Dominions  as  autonomous  nations  of  an  Imperial 
Commonwealth,  and  of  India  as  an  important  portion  of  the 
same,  should  recognise  the  right  of  the  Dominions  and  India 
to  an  adequate  voice  in  foreign  policy  and  in  foreign  relations, 
and  should  provide  effective  arrangements  for  continuous 
consultation  in  all  important  matters  of  common  Imperial 
Concern,  and  for  such  necessary  concerted  action,  founded  on 
consultation,  as  the  several  Governments  may  determine.'  ^ 

(2)  '  For  some  time  it  had  become  increasingly  apparent 
that  some  method  had  to  be  found  of  informing  the  Overseas 
Governments  of  the  political  and  military  situation  and  of 
enabling  nations  which  were  making  such  sacrifices  for  the 

*  Italicized  in  the  original.  *  Cf.  No.  Ixiv.  (by  Jay). 

'  Imperial  War  Conference,  1 91 7.  Extracts  from  Minutes  of  Proceedings 
and  Papers  laid  before  the  Conference  [Cd.  8566],  p.  61. 


before  the  Paris  War  Conference  283 

common  cause  to  take  their  part  in  the  counsels  of  the  Empire* 
Accordingly,  at  the  .beginning  of  191 7,  the  Prime  Ministers 
of  the  Overseas  Dominions  were  invited  to  attend  a  series  of 
special  meetings  at  the  War  Cabinet  in  order  to  discuss  the 
J)roblems  of  the  war  and  the  possible  conditions  of  peace. 
India,  for  the  first  time,  was  also  asked  to  send  representatives 
to  take  part  in  this  Council  of  the  Empire.  The  sessions  of 
the  Cabinet,  thus  enlarged,  came  to  be  known  as  the  Imperial 
War  Cabinet.  The  necessities  of  the  war  have  thus  brought 
into  being  a  body  representative  of  all  parts  of  the  Empire, 
able  to  deliberate  and  to  come  to  decisions  on  questions  affecting 
the  day-to-day  conduct  of  the  war  as  well  as  on  the  larger 
issues  of  Imperial  policy  without  impairing  the  autonomy  of 
the  units  of  which  the  Empire  is  composed.  ...  So  successful 
was  this  experiment  in  the  opinion  of  its  members  that  it  was 
decided  unanimously  that  there  ought  to  be  an  annual  meeting 
of  the  Imperial  Cabinet  and  that  the  Prime  Ministers  of  the 
Empire  or  their  specially  delegated  representatives,  together 
with  the  Ministers  in  charge  of  the  great  Imperial  Offices 
should  be  ex  officio  members.'  ^ 

'  In  June  191 7  the  War  Cabinet  invited  General  Smuts, 
who  had  attended  the  meetings  of  the  Imperial  War  Cabinet 
as  the  Representative  of  the  Government  of  the  Union  of 
South  Africa,  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  War  Cabinet 
during  his  stay  in  the  British  Isles.'  ^ 

*  The  outstanding  event  of  the  year  in  the  sphere  of  Imperial 
affairs  has  been  the  inauguration  of  the  Imperial  War  Cabinet.'  * 

The  advance  made  during  1918  is  shown  by  the  following 
announcement  which  was  issued  on  August  18,  191 8  : 

'  During  the  past  two  and  a  half  months  the  Imperial  War 
Cabinet  has  been  in  continuous  session.  Every  aspect  of 
policy  affecting  the  conduct  of  the  war  and  the  question  of 
peace  has  been  examined  by  the  Prime  Ministers  of  the  Empire 
and  other  members  representative  of  all  its  parts. 

'  These  meetings  have  proved  of  such  value  that  the  Imperial 
War  Cabinet  have  thought  it  essential  that  certain  modifica- 
tions should  be  made  in  the  existing  channels  of  communication, 

1  The  War  Cabinet.    Report  Jor  the  Tear  i^ij  [Cd.  9005],  pp.  vi-vii. 
*  Jbid.y  p.  I.  **  Ibid.,  p.  5  ;  and  see  pp.  6-10. 


284    Dominions  and  Control  of  Foreign  Policy 

so  as  to  make  consultation  between  the  various  Governments 
of  the  Empire  in  regard  to  Imperial  policy  as  continuous  and 
intimate  as  possible. 

'  It  has,  therefore,  been  decided  that  for  the  future  the 
Prime  Ministers  of  the  Dominions,  as  members  of  the  Imperial 
War  Cabinet,  should  have  the  right  to  communicate  on 
matters  of  Cabinet  importance  direct  with  the  Prime  Minister 
of  the  United  Kingdom  whenever  they  see  fit  to  do  so. 

*  It  has  also  been  decided  that  each  Dominion  shall  have 
the  right  to  nominate  a  visiting  or  a  resident  Minister  in 
London  to  be  a  member  of  the  Imperial  War  Cabinet  at 
meetings  other  than  those  attended  by  the  Prime  Ministers, 
These  meetings  will  be  held  at  regular  intervals.  Arrangements 
will  also  be  made  for  the  representation  of  India  at  these 
meetings.'  * 

^  For  the  general  question  of  the  position  held  in  the  past  by  the  self- 
governing  colonies — now  styled  '  Dominions  ' — in  relation  to  the  conduct 
of  foreign  policy,  see  Keith,  Responsible  Government  in  the  British  Dominions, 
iii,  pp.  1 101-57  and  1455-6,  and  Tbe  Oxford  Survey  of  the  British  Empire 
(6  vols.,  I9i4),i :  General  Survey,  especially  pp.  32,  54,  59,  84,  89,  114,  117. 


INDEX 


Acton,  Lord,  on  right  and  wrong  in 
history  and  politics,  7,  76. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  88. 

Addison,  63. 

Advocationis  Hispanicae  Libri  Duo, 
Gentili's,  119. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Treaty  of,  67. 

Albany,  the  fourth  Duke  of,  73-4. 

Albin,  Les  grands  Traites  politiques, 

144-    . 

Allgemeiner  bistorischer  Handatlas, 
Droysen's,  146. 

Alliances,  Frederick  II  of  Prussia  on 
the  making  of,  160 ;  Clausewitz 
on,   161 -2. 

Ambassadors,    Wotton's    '  pleasant 
definition  '  of,  7-8;  early,  16  sqq. 
'  eloquence  '  of,  17,  21,  216,  220-1 
Machiavelli  on  the  office  of,  77-8 
as   comedians,   217,   227 ;    Vera, 
Wicquefort,  Callieres,  and  Charles 
de  Martens  on  the  function  and 
qualities  of,  216  sqq.     See  Diplo- 
macy and  Diplomatists. 

Ambassadeur  et  ses  Fonctions,  L\ 
i53~S-      -Set  Wicquefort. 

Ambassadeur,  Le  Parjait,  17,  152-3. 
See  Vera. 

Amelot  de  la  Houssaie,  77,  230. 

Amphibologies,  32. 

Anti-Machiavel  writings,  76-7,  151. 

Aquinas,  177. 

'  Arbitration  ',  160. 

Archives  de  mistoire  de  FrancBy 
89 -9c. 

Archives  diplomatiques,  144. 

Astutia,  76. 

Atlases,  historical,  146. 

Augustine,  5,  177. 

Aurelius,  Marcus,  177. 

Austin,  92. 


Baas,  45. 

Bacon,  15,  24,  38,  140-1. 

Balance  of  Power,  the,  20,  27-8, 

79-80,  93,  95,  96,  104,  108,  147, 

191-4,203-4. 
Balfour,  A.  J.,  on  the  conduct  of 

foreign  policy,  265-9. 
Bentham,  180,  181  ;    on  Perpetual 

Peace,  195-200. 
Berkeley,  Bishop,  211. 
Bernard,    Mountague,    Lectures    on 

Diplomacy,  28,  80,  164-5. 
Bibliotheque  de  V Homme  public,  154. 
Bismarck,  13,  15,  38,  41-2,  43,  50, 

51,68-9,176. 
Black  Book  of  the  Admiralty,  The, 

126,  130,  136. 
Blake,  Instructions  to,  133. 
Bolingbroke,  27. 
Borgia,  Caesar,  76. 
Boroughs,  Sir  John,  128,  131-41. 
Breteuil,  le  baron  de,  53. 
Britain  and  alliances  in  the  eighteenth 

century,  57  sqq. 
Broglie,  le  comte  de,  80. 
Brougham,  Lord,  15. 
Bruhl,  Count,  54. 

Bryce,  James  (Lord),  277,  279,  280. 
Buchanan,  Sir  A.,  252-3. 
Burke,  80,  97,  213. 
Byzantine  diplomacy,  19. 


Callieres,  his  book,  155-6;  on  the 
function  of  the  negotiator,  219; 
on  the  qualities  of  the  diplomatist, 
223-8, 229-30  ;  on  the  conduct  of 
negotiations,  239-40,  246 ;  on 
treaties,  249-50. 

Cambridge  Modern  History,  The,  89, 
146,  171. 


286 


Index 


Campanella,  De  Monarcbia  Hispa- 
nica,  76. 

Canning,  11,28,35. 

Canning,  Sir  Stratford  ;  see  Red- 
cliffe. 

Carteret,  34,  43,  62,  63,  64,  65. 

Castro,  Alphonso  de,  118. 

Catherine  II  of  Russia,  53-5,  65. 

Causes  celebres  du  droit  des  gens,  113. 

Cavour,  16. 

Cecil,  Robert,  11. 

Chalmers,  Collection  oj  Maritime 
Treaties,  145. 

Charles  I  of  England,  130,  131,  132. 

Charles  V,  the  Emperor,  38, 46. 

China,  communication  from  Presi- 
dent Tyler  to,  40-1. 

Churchill,  John,  1 5. 

Cipher,  235,  242  sqq. 

Civilitas,  180. 

Clarendon,  History  of  the  Rebellion, 
on  Cromwell,  45. 

Clarendon,  the  Earl  of.  Foreign 
Secretary,  12,  21-2,  254-6,  263. 

Clausewitz,  On  War,  161 -4;  on 
allies  as  the  support  of  the 
defensive,  161-2;  on  the  in- 
fluence of  the  political  object  on 
the  military,  162-3  ;  on  war  as  an 
instrument  of  policy,  163-4. 

Clergy,  the,  as  diplomatists,  224, 

237-8. 
Cobbett,  Pitt,  1 13-14. 
Cobbett,  William,  loi. 
Collections  of  Treaties,  143-5. 
Comedian,  the  Ambassador  as,  217, 

227. 
Commentaries     upon     International 

Law,  Phillimore's,  107-8. 
Comines,  218,  223. 
Commission  des  affaires  exterieures 

et  coloniales,  La,  270-3,  281. 
Commons,  the  House  of,  and  the 

conduct   of  foreign   policy ;    see 

Parliament. 
Commonwealth,  the  British,  70-1, 

75-6. 
Concert  of  Europe,  the,  28. 
Condi,  the  Prince  of,  63. 


Condorcet,  154. 

Considerations  sur  le  Gouvernement 

de  Pologne,  77. 
Conti,  the  Prince  de,  80. 
Continuity  in  foreign  policy,  52  sqq. 
Contraband,  95,  98-9,  112,  113. 
Control   Social,   Le,   77,    181,    182, 

184-5. 
Corps  Universel  Diplomatique,  143. 
Cowley,  Lord,  10,  257-8. 
Craggs,  James,  63,  64. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  44-5,  151,  170. 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  46-7,  48. 
Cromwell,  Life  and  Letters  of  Thomas, 

47>  151- 
Cunmng,  233-4. 

Dallington,  R.,  25,  149-50. 

Dante,  5,  96,  I77^- 

De  Abusu  Mendacii,  Gentili's,  152. 

Debidour,  172. 

De     Dominio     Maris,     Welwod's, 

127-8. 
Defensio  Capitis  Quinti  Maris  Liberi 

Oppugnati  a   Gulielmo   Welwodo, 

Grotius's,  127. 
Deffaudis,  Questions  diplomatique!, 

86. 
De  Jure  Belli,  Gentili's,  119. 
De  Jure  Belli  ac  Pacis  ;  see  Grotius. 
De  Jure  Praedae,  Grotius's,  117. 
De  la  Maniere  de  negocier  avec  les 

Souverains,  CaWiires's,  155-6;  and 

see  Callieres. 
De  legationibus  libri  tres,  Gentili's, 

76,  151-2. 
Democracy  and  stabihty,   53   sqq., 

68-76,    278,    280,    281-2;     and 

empire,  150-1. 
De  Monarcbia  Hispanica,  Campa- 

nella's,  76. 
Derby,  the  fifteenth  Earl  of,  70. 
Despacci  degli  ambasciatori  e  resi- 

denti  veneti  aW  estero,  90. 
Digby,  John,  154. 
Dinners  and  diplomacy,  10,  227. 
Diplomacy,  and  morality,  31  sqq.; 

kinds  of,  39  ;  illustrations  of,  43  ; 

•open',   73-5;   'secret',  253-9; 


Index 


287 


the  study  of,  85  sqq.  ;  recent 
British,  168  sqq.  See  Ambassa- 
dors and  Diplomatists. 

Diplomatic  Practice,  A  Guide  to  ;  see 
Satow. 

Diplomatic  Revolution,  the,  49. 

Diplomatic  service  and  one's  coun- 
try, 9-10  ;  good  dinners  and,  10  ; 
handwriting  and,  lo-ii.  See 
Diplomacy. 

Diplomatic  Service,  Report  on  the ; 
see  Report. 

Diplomatists,  qualities  for,  14  sqq., 
17,  21-2,  220-38;  Machiavelli 
and,  22-6.    See  Ambassadors  and 

-   Diplomacy. 

Discourses  on  Livy,  The,  Machia- 
velli's,  23. 

Dispatches,  49-50,  78,  90,  242, 
244-8,251-9,263. 

Disraeli,  43. 

Distance  and  the  conduct  of  diplo- 
macy, 29. 

Dominion  of  the  Sea;  see  Sovereignty. 

Dominions,  the,  and  the  control  of 
foreign  policy,  71,  75-6,  282-4. 

Dominium,  Maris  JBritannici  asser- 
tum,  131-2  ;  see  Boroughs. 

Double  Instrument,  Un,  250. 

Droit  des  Gens,  Le,  Vattel's,  96-100. 

Droysen,  Handatlas,  146. 

Duff,  Mountstuart  Grant,  on  the 
interest  of  the  public  in  inter- 
national affairs,  3-4  ;  on  diplo- 
matists and  politics,  9. 

Dumont,  143. 

Dutch  fishermen,  137-40. 

Egerton,    H.    E.,    British    Foreign 

Policy  in  Europe  to  the  End  of  the 

igth  Century,  170-1. 
Elements     of    International     Law, 

Wheaton,  106-7. 
Elizabeth  (of  England),  Queen,  11- 

12,  170,  218. 
Elizabeth  of  Russia,  53. 
Embassador  and  bis  Functions,  The, 

1 54-5  ;   and  see  Wicquef ort. 
Emile,  Rousseau's,  183,  186-7. 


Empire,  democracy  and,  150-1. 
'  Europe  ',  meaning  of,  189-90. 
*  Extracts  '  in  published  dispatches, 
49-50. 

Falsiloquy,  34. 

Federalist,    The,   vl-vii,    100,    142, 

204,  206,  279,  281-2. 
Firth,  C.  H.,  on  Oliver  Cromwell,  44. 
Flecamore,  Christopher,  8. 
Foedera,  Rymer's,  144. 
Foreign  Affairs  Committee  of    the 

Federal    Council    in     Germany, 

275-6. 
Foreign  Office,  business  of  the,  86, 

265-70. 
'  Foreign  Office  hand.  The  *,  11. 
Foreign  Office  List,  The,  167. 
Foreign  policy,  48  sqq. ;   the  Crown 

and  the  conduct  of,  in  Britain, 

173-4,    and    works    on,    173-5 ; 

parliament  and,  see  Parliament. 
Foreign  Relations  Committee  in  the 

United  States  of  America,  281. 
Fortuna,  23,  25-6,  48. 
Fox,  Charles  James,  80,  97-8. 
France,  treatment  of  international 

questions  in,  270-2,  281. 
Francis  I  of  France,  46. 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  177. 
Frederick  II  of  Prussia,  42-3, 44,  52, 

53,  54,  57  sqq.,  65,  81-2,  160-1. 
Freedom,  74. 
Freeman,   E.   A.,   on   politics   and 

political  morality,  1  -2. 
French  language,  the,  in  diplomatic 

intercourse,  10,  11-12. 
French  Revolution,  the,   105,   no, 

119. 
Fulton,  The  Sovereignty  of  the  Sea, 

118,119,127,  128,  131,  132,  137. 

Gaguin,  15. 

Garden,  Le  Comte  de,  143. 

Gardiner,  S.  R.,  on  Cromwell,  45  ; 

on   the   sovereignty   of  the   sea, 

116-17,  118,  129. 
Gentili,  Alberico,  76, 96,  119,  1SI-2| 

212. 


i88 


Index 


Gentz,  F.  von,  80. 

George  I,  61,  62. 

George  II,  61,  62. 

German  language,  the,  in  diplomatic 

intercourse,  12-13. 
Germany,  treatment  of  international 

questions  in,  272-7. 
Gierke,  Professor,  178-9. 
Girolami,  Raphael,  77. 
Gladstone,  70,  260-2. 

*  Good  offices  ',  i6o. 
Gortschakoff,  28,  50. 
Graswinckel,  130. 
Green,  T.  H.,  208-9. 
Grey,  the  first  Earl,  31. 

Grotius,  on  resident  ambassadors, 
18-19;  on  amphibologies,  32 ;  his 
Mare  Liberutn^  1 16  sqq. ;  also,  93, 
96,  107-8, 109,  no,  112,  114,  lis, 

•  127  sqq.,  150,  152,  209,  210,  212. 
Grotius  Society,  publications  of  the, 

210. 
Guicciardini,  23,  25-6,  149-50. 
Guide  diplomatique,   Le,   85-6,   87, 

156-7. 

Halifax,  Sir  George  Savile,  Marquis 

of,  38,  61. 
Hall,  W.  E.,  107,  1 12-13,  116. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  vi,  vii,  279, 

281-2. 
Hammond,  Adventures  of  a  Paper  in 

the  Foreign  Office,  1 66. 
Handwriting,  10,  11. 
Harangues,  Indice  des  plus  belles, 

Harris,  Sir  James,  the  first  Earl  of 
Malmesbury,  29-30,  36-7,  54,  55, 
164 ;  on  advice  to  a  young  man 
'  destined  for  the  foreign  line ', 
234-6. 

Harrison,  Frederic,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
44. 

Hauterive,  80. 

Heeren,  A.  H.  L.,  13,  57  sqq.,  96-7, 
165. 

Hegel,  77. 

Heligoland,  cession  of,  70,  260-3, 
264. 


Henrietta,     Duchess     of     Orleans, 

239- 
Henry  IV,  king  of  France,  79,  96. 
Henry  VII,  45-6. 
Henry  VIII,  46. 
Hertslet,  Edward,  Map  of  Europe  by 

Treaty,  146-8. 
Hertslet,       Lewis,      Collection       of 

Treaties  and  Conventions  between 

Great  Britain  and  Foreign  Powers, 

145. 
Hildebrand,  177. 
Histoire  abregee  des  Traites,  143. 
Histoire  de  mon  Temps,  Frederick 

II's,  42,  160-1. 
Histoire  generale,  Lavisse  et  Ram* 

baud,  89. 
Historical  Atlas  of  Modern  Europe, 

146. 
History,  importance  of  the  study  of, 

.13-14,  85-6,  223. 
History    of   the    Law    of   Nations, 

Wheaton's,  20,  91-5,  99-100,  112, 

153-4.    SeeWalkcT. 
Holdemesse,     correspondence     be- 
tween Andrew  Mitchell  and,  53-4, 

65,  81-2. 
Holland,  T.  E.,  165-6,  211. 
Hooker,  Richard,  on  law  and  the  law 

of  nations,  212-15. 

Imperial  War  Cabinet,  the,  283-4. 
Imperial  War  Conference,  the,  282. 
Imperium,  the,  in  the  Middle  Age, 

177. 
Instructions,  236,  240,  242  sqq. 
Instructions  donnees  aux  AmbassO' 

deurs  de  France,  14,  18,  19,  27,  29, 

34,  49?  53,  54,  55,  61. 
International  law,  development  of, 

91  syy.,  112-13, 114-15  ;  Treatises 

of,  96  sqq. 
International    morality,    177    sqq., 

208  sqq. 
International  policy  and  its  study, 

48  sqq.,  85  sqq. 
Interpellations     respecting    foreign 

policy,  272,  274. 
Irony  in  diplomacy,  41-2. 


Index 


289 


James  I  of  England,  8,  128,  130. 
Jenkinson,  C,  Collection  of  Treaties^ 

144. 
Jew  oj  Malta,  The,  24-5. 
Jugement  sur  la    Paix    perpetuelle, 

Rousseau's,  183,  185-6. 
Junta,  the  Spanish,  52,  259-60. 
Justice,     Alexander,      A      General 

Treatise    of    the    Dominion    and 

Laws  of  the  Sea,  124,  126. 

Kant  on  Perpetual  Peace  and  the 
Society  of  Nations,  180,  181, 
200-7. 

Kaunitz,  65. 

Keith,  Sir  R.,  14. 

Koch  et  SchoU,  143. 

Latin  language,  the,  in  diplomatic 
intercourse,  11 -12. 

Law  and  Custom  of  the  Sea,  118,1 20. 

Law  of  Nations,  The,  Twiss's,  108-12. 

Leading  Cases  and  Opinions  in 
International  Law,  1 13-14. 

League  of  Nations,  A,  viii,  75, 
1 14-15,  194,  207;  and  see  Per- 
petual Peace  and  Society  of 
Peoples. 

Learning  as  a  qualification  of  the 
diplomatist,  221-2,  225-6. 

Leibnitz,  103,  143,  144. 

Letters  of  Queen  Victoria,  The,  173. 

Lieger,  7-8. 

Lies,  31  sqq.,  152,  230  sqq.,  236. 

Lipsius,  Justus,  149-50. 

Loftus,  Lord  Augustus,  21,  22,  28, 
32,  176. 

Louis  XI,  31. 

Louis  XV,  secret  correspondence  of, 
295  35j42,  80-1. 

Louise  of  Savoy,  239. 

Lowe,  Robert,  3. 

Lyons,  Lord,  21,  69. 

Mably,  I'Abbe  de,  142. 

Machiavelli,  4,  19,  22,  46,  48,  76-7, 
77-8,149,150,151,223,230. 

Machiavellianism  and  anti-Machia- 
vellianism, 76-7,  230  sqq. 


Machiavellism,  22-6. 
Mackintosh,  Sir  James,  28,  loo. 
Madison,  142-3,  279. 
Maine,  Sir  Henry,  1 14-15. 
Maitland,  F.  W.,  125. 
Malmesbury,  the  first  Earl  of;    see 

Harris. 
Malmesbury,  the  third  Earl  of,  10, 

II,  i3,295  305  35>395  68, 173,  176, 

234-6. 
Manzoni,  16. 
Map    of  Europe   by    Treaty,    The, 

Hertslet's,  146-8. 
Maps,  146-8. 
Mare     Clausum,      Selden's,      128, 

129-31. 
Mare  Liberum,  Grotius's,  117  sqq., 

i29>  131,  133- 

Martens,  Charles  de,  on  the  study  of 
diplomacy,  85-6,  87;  his  Causes 
celebres,  113;  continues  the  Re- 
cueil  des  principaux  traites,  144 ; 
his  Guide  diplomatique,  1 56-7 ;  on 
the  function  of  the  diplomatist, 
220-1  ;  on  the  conduct  of  nego- 
tiations, 240-2 ;  on  diplomatic 
correspondence,  247-9. 

Martens,  G.  F.  von.  Precis  du  Droit 
des  Gens,  96,  100-5 ;  Recueil  des 
principaux  traites,  143-4. 

Mazarin,43,45,  153,  233. 

Means  and  end  in  politics,  4-7. 

'  Mediation ',  160. 

Memoires,  248,  249. 

Memorandum,  248. 

Menterie  officieuse,  La,  230-1. 

Metternich,  31-2. 

Middle  age  in  negotiators,  225. 

Middle  Age,  the  ideal  of  the, 
177-9. 

Milton,  63. 

Mitchell,  letters  from  and  to  Sir  A., 
53-4,  60,  65,  81-2. 

Mommsen,  51. 

Monarchy  and  stability,  55-6. 

Montaigne,  24,  230. 

Montesquieu,  22,  58. 

Morley,  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  Re- 
collections, 44. 


290 


Index 


Napoleon,  31,  60,  102,  105,  106,  no, 

194. 
Napoleon  III,  68. 
Negotiating,  the   art  of,   21,   219, 

223-30,  239-42. 

*  Notes  ',  88,  248. 

Nys,   Les   Origines   du   droit   inter- 
national,  ^$-6jiii;  129,179,180. 

*  Occupation  '  of  the  sea,  122-5. 

*  Officious  '  conversation,  39. 
Old  age  in  negotiators,  225. 
Oleron,  Rolls  of,  125,  136. 

'  Open '    diplomacy,    73-5,    253-9, 

263-9. 
Oppenheim,  L.,  International  Lata, 

19,  112,  116,  157. 
Orator,  16  syy. ;  '  bon  Ambassadeur, 

bon  Orateur ',  17,  220-1. 
Order  in  Council  of  1795,  98-9. 

Paix  perpetuelle,  La,  96,   178  sqq., 

206  sqq. 
Palmerston,  11,  32,  35-6,  39,  173, 

263. 
Panin,  54. 
Parliament    and    the    conduct    of 

foreign  policy  in  Britain,  55  sqq., 

68  sqq.,  83-4,  224,  253-9,  260-9. 
Parliaments   in   France,   Germany, 

and  the  United  States  of  America, 

treatment  of  international  ques- 
tions by,  270-82. 
Parties     in     Britain     and     foreign 

policy,  63  sqq.,  68  sqq.,  83-4. 
Pelhim,  Thomas   and   Henry,   62, 

64 ;  Henry,  67-8. 
Pepys,  116. 
'  Periods    of    European    History ', 

89. 
Perpetual  Peace,  Projects  of,   178 

sqq.,  2o6  sqq. 
Perpetual  Peace,  Kant's,  200  sqq. 
Persona,  125. 
Peter  HI  of  Russia,  53. 
Phillimore,  Sir  Robert,  107-8. 
Phillimore,  W.  G.  F.,  Three  Centuries 

of   Treaties    of  Peace   and   their 

Teaching,  172. 


Pitt,  the  elder,  43,  60,  62,  65. 

Pitt,  the  younger,  6,  80. 

Plan  for  an  Universal  and  Perpetual 

Peace,  Bentham's,  195  sqq. 
Poland,  partitioning  of,  81,  194. 
Pole,  Cardinal,  46,  47. 
Policy,  4  sqq.  ;  foreign,  48  sqq.,  150  ; 

and  the  conduct  of  war,  162,  164, 

See  Foreign,  International,  Parlia- 
ment. 
Polish  Succession  (or  Election)  War, 

the,  66. 
Political  morality,  i  -2,  5-7, 22-7, 31 

sqq. 
Politique   de   tous    les    Cabinets   de 

r Europe  ;   see  Segur. 
Pollock,  Sir  F.,  107,  1 14-15. 
Poole,  Historical  Atlas,  146. 
Potemkin,  54. 
President,  the,  of  the  United  States, 

and  the  conduct  of  foreign  policy, 

277-81. 
Prince,  The,  19,  22-3,  25,  31,  46,  76^ 

149, 151. 
Protests  of  the  Lords,  65-6. 
Prudence,    14,   22,   72-3,   j6,   229, 

230-4. 
Public  opinion,  70,  73,  264-5, 266-9. 

Rabshakeh,  16. 

Raison  i ^tat,  yy,  230. 

Rastatt,  Congress  of,  102,  105. 

Rechberg,  32,  51. 

Recbtslehre,  Kant's,  200,  205-7. 

Recollections    of   the    Old    Foreign 

Office,  166. 
Recueil  des  Instructions  donnees  aux 

Ambassadeurs  de  France ;  see  In- 

structions. 
Recueil  des  principaux  traiies ;    see 

Martens. 
Redcliffe,  Stratford  de,  10, 30, 25i-2| 

256-7. 
Reform  Bill,  Bismarck  on  the,  69. 
R^glement  of  the  Narrow  Seas,  118. 
Reichstag,  the,  and  foreign  affairs, 

273-5.  277- 
Renee  du  Bee,  239.  | 
Report  from  the  Select  Committee  on 


Index 


291 


Diplomatic  Service  (1861),  9,  10, 

12,  21,  i66,  251-9. 
Revolution  of  1688-9,  estimate  of 

the,  by  Sir  John  Seeley,  169. 
Richelieu,  43,  239,  240,  245. 
Ricordi  politici  e  civUi,   Guicciar- 

dini's,  26. 
Rousseau,  yj,  87,  180  sqq.,  202. 
Rule  of  1756,  the,  113,  114. 
Rumbold,  Sir  Horace,  30 
Ruse,  La,  et  contre-ruse,  220,  230-4. 
Russell,  Lord  John,  173,  253,  258-9. 
Russia,  the  Court  of,  and  foreign 

policy,  53-4. 
Rutter  of  the  Sea,  The,  125-6. 
Rymer,  Foedera,  144. 

Sacerdotium,  The,  in  the  Middle  Age, 

J  77-  . 
Saint-Pierre,    L'Abbe    de,    179-81, 

184,  185,  187,  194,  202. 
Salisbury,   the   third  Marquess   of, 

49-50,263-5. 
Sang  froid,  Un  homme  de,  228-9. 
Satow,  Sir  Ernest,  88,  iii,  1 13-14, 

155,  157760. 
Schauenstein,  Count  Buol,  32. 
Schleswig-Holstein,  28,  69. 
Scott,  Sir  William  ;  see  Stowell. 
Sea,  Dominion,  Sovereignty  or  Supe- 
riority of  the  ;  see  Sovereignty. 
Sea-Lazv  of  Scotland,  The,  Welwod's, 

119-20. 
Sea-Lawes,  An  Abridgement  of  all, 

Welwod's,  120-27. 
'Secret'   diplomacy,   73-5,   253-95 

263-9.  . 
*  Secret  diplomacy '   of  Louis  XV, 

80-1. 
Seeley,  J.  R.,  3,  52  ;   The  Growth  of 

British  Policy,  168-70. 
Segur,  on  diplomatic  morality  and 

on  the  conduct  of  policy,  35-7, 

81. 
Selden,  108,  118,  125,  128,  129-31. 
Senate,  the,  in  the  United  States  of 

America,    and    the    conduct    of 

foreign  policy,  278-81. 
Senate,  the  Roman,  51-2. 


Septennial  Bill,  the,  63. 

Seymour,  Sir  G.  H.,  9. 

Shakespeare,  24. 

Ship-money,  128-9. 

Sidgwick,  Henry,  209. 

Smuts,  General,  70-1,  283. 

Social  Contract,  The ;  see  Contrat. 

Society  of  Peoples,  the,  183  sqq. 

Sorel,  L'Europe  et  la  Revolution 
franfaise,  164. 

Soveraignty  of  the  British  Seas,  The ; 
see  Boroughs. 

Sovereignty  of  the  sea,  the,  1 16-41. 
See  Welwod,  Grotius,  Boroughs, 
Selden. 

Sovereignty  of  the  Sea,  The;  see 
Fulton. 

Spenser,  25. 

Spinoza,  32-3,  jG-j. 

Spy,  the  ambassador  as  an  honour- 
ably, 218,  228  ;  and  17-18. 

Stair,  the  second  Earl  of,  63. 

Stanhope,  the  first  Earl,  34-5,  62, 
63,  64. 

Stanhope,  Philip,  10. 

Status  quo,  159. 

Stowell,  Lord,  134-5. 

Studium,  The,  in  the  Middle  Age, 
177. 

Style  diplomatique,  Le,  87. 

Superiority  of  the  sea  ;  see  Sove- 
reignty. 

Surrey,  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of, 
third  Duke  of  Norfolk,  73. 

*  System  '  of  States,  and  of  policy,  A, 
165,  189,  191. 

Tacitus,  22,  J  J,  150,  223,  232. 
Telegraph,     the,    and    diplomacy, 

30-1,  159,251-3. 
Ten,  the  Council  of,  74,  90. 
Thrograorton,  Michael,  47. 
Thucydides,   22,   223 ;     on   policy, 

democracy  and  empire,  150-1. 
Tocqueville,  viii,  40-1,  280-1. 
Torcy,  38-      .  . 

Tractatus  Politicus  ;  see  Spinoza. 
Tractatus  Theologico-Politicus ;    see 

Spinoza. 


zg2 


Index 


Treaties,  the  force  of,  103-4,  *o8, 1 10, 

113,  142-3;  Collections  of,  142-5 ; 

kinds  of,  249-50. 
Treaty-making   power   in    Britain, 

the,  260-3. 
*  Trent ',  the,  69. 
'  Trimmer ',  the,  38. 
Troyes,  the  Treaty  of,  31. 
Twiss,  Sir  Travers,  107,  108-12,  126, 

130,  136,  142,211-12. 
Tyler,  President  of  the  United  States 

of  America,  39-41. 
Tyranny,  Machiavelli  and  Spinoza 

on,  76-7. 

United  States  of  America,  Treat- 
ment of  international  questions  in 
the,  277-82. 

Uti  possidetis,  159. 

Utopia,  More's,  187,  194. 

Utrecht,  the  Treaty  of,  67,  108. 

Vail,  the,  118,  128,  137. 

Valori,  43. 

Vasquez  (Vasquius),  118,  131. 

Vattel,  on  resident  ambassadors,  19  ; 
on  good  faith,  33-4 ;  on  the 
balance  of  power,  79  j  Le  Droit 
des  Gens,  96-100. 

Vaughan,  Stephen,  48. 

Venetian  ambassadors,  19,  90,  224, 
244. 

Vera,  Antonio  de,  on  persuasive 
speech,  17;  Le  Par/ait  Am- 
bassadeur,  152-3  ;  on  the  function 
of  the  ambassador,2i6-i7;  on  the 
qualities  of  the  diplomatist,  220-1, 
228 ;  on  ruse  and  counter-ruse, 
230-3  ;  on  abstinence  from  wine, 
237 ;  on  women  in  diplomacy, 
238  ;  on  instructions,  dispatches, 
cipher,  and  secrecy,  242-4. 

Vettori,  23. 

Victoria,  Queen,  on  the  Crown  and 
the  conduct  of  foreign  policy,  173. 

Vienna,  Treaties  of,  28,  147,  148. 


Villari,  Machiavelli  and  bis  Times, 

19,  23,  26. 
Vincentius  {Lirinensis),  no. 

Walker,  T.  A.,  History  of  the  Law  oj 
Nations,  96,  116,  118. 

Walpole,  Sir  Robert,  34, 62, 63, 65, 66. 

Walsingham,  Instructions  to,  218. 

Walton,  Izaak,  7,  8. 

War  as  an  instrument  of  policy, 
Clausewitz  on,  163-4. 

Wellesley,  the  Marquess,  52,  259-60. 

Welwod,  William,  1 1 9  sqq. ;  The  Sea' 
Law  of  Scotlattd,  119-20;  An 
Abridgement  oJ  all  Sea-Lawes, 
120-7;  De  Dominio  Maris,  127-8. 

Westphalia,  Treaty  of,  20, 91, 93, 96, 
192,  193. 

Wheaton,  Henry,  14,  20 ;  his 
History  of  the  Law  of  Nations,  and 
conclusions  regarding  advances 
made  since  the  Treaty  of  West- 
phalia, 91-4,  95,  96,  99-100  ;  his 
Elements  of  International  Law,  106- 
7,  112,  153-4;  on  Saint-Pierre's 
Projet  de  Paix  perpituelle,  1 80. 

Wicquefort,  L' Ambassadeur  et  ses 
Fonctions,  153-5,  -"7;  o"  ^^'^ 
function  of  the  ambassador,  217- 
19  ;  on  the  qualities  of  the  diplo- 
matist, 221-3,  229,  233-4  ;  on  the 
employment  of  the  clergy  in 
embassies,  237-8  ;  on  instructions, 
letters,  dispatches,  and  cipher, 
244-6 ;  on  treaties,  249. 

William  I,  King  of  Prussia,  Bis- 
marck on,  38. 

William  III,  43,  61,  169,  170. 

Wodehouse,  Lord,  253-4. 

Women  and  diplomatists,  228 ;  as 
diplomatists,  238-9. 

Wotton,  Sir  Henry,  7,  8. 

Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  46. 

Wyndham,  Sir  William,  66-7. 

Wyse,  Sir  T.,  9. 

Youth  in  negotiators,  225. 


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THE  GUARDIANS  OF  THE  GATE:  Historical  Lectures 

on  the  Serbs.  By  R.  G.  D.  Laffan,  with  a  foreword  by  Vice-Admiral  E.  T. 
Troubridge.  1918.  Pp.  300,  with  twenty-two  illustrations  and  three  maps. 
6s.  6d.  net. 

'  The  book  has  a  peculiar  excellence  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  at  once  the  work  of  an  his- 
torical scholar,  and  of  a  cnan  who  has  close  personal  experience  of  the  things  about  which 
he  is  Mxiting.  While  it  thus  gains  in  realism,  and  occasionally — as  in  the  vivid  account  of 
the  heroic  advance  of  the  Serbs  on  Monastir— has  a  special  authority,  it  is  also — as  the 
long  list  of  "works  consulted"  shows — informed  by  a  careful  scholarship  quite  remark- 
able  in  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  written.' — Times. 

'We  cannot  praise  Mr.  LafTan'sbook  too  highly.  .  .  .  The  whole  book  with  its  excellent 
photographs  forms  a  useful  contribution  to  war  literature  and  one  that  should  be  widely 
read.' —  Western  Morning  News. 

JAPAN  :   the  Rise  of  a  Modem  Power.     By  Robert  P. 

Porter.  1918.  Pp.  xxii  +  362,  with  five  illustrations  and  five  maps. 
6s.  6d.  net. 

*  A  good  book,  a  book  which  can  fulfil  a  thoroughly  useful  function,  a  book  which  is  not 
only  worth  reading,  but  is  also  worth  baying  and  keeping.' — Titnes. 

'  Tells  the  reader  practically  all  that  he  wants  to  know  ...  a  marvel  of  compression  .  . . 
there  is  so  much  in  it  that  is  quotable  and  hardly  a  page  which  is  not  full  of  instructive 
interest. . . .  No  more  important  book  has  appeared  on  Japan  for  some  years.' — Cambridge 
Review. 

MODERN  CHINA.    A  Political  Study  by  S.  G.  Cheng. 

1919.  Pp.  viii  +  380,  with  two  maps  and  nine  documentary  appendixes. 
6s.  6d.  net. 

Deals  with  the  important  problems  which  confront  Chinese  statesmen  and  diplomatists 
and  those  who  have  anything  to  do  with  China.  It  endeavours  tp  give  a  true  picture 
of  things  as  they  are  in  the  Par  East,  and  at  the  same  time  to  suggest  constructive 
schemes  for  the  future. 


THE  EASTERN  QUESTION.    An  Historical  Study  in 

European  Diplomacy.  By  J.  A.  R.  Marriott.  1917.  With  eleven  maps. 
8s.  6d.  net. 

'Its  value  to  students  of  contemporary  politics  is  practically  incalculable.'— ^«7)» 
Telegraph. 

'Pleasant  to  read,  full  of  information,  and  giving  the  mature  thought  of  a  man  who  has 
made  modern  history  his  life-work,  it  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  historical  books  I  have 
seen.' — Dr.  Agar  Beet  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review. 

'Owing  to  his  vast  knowledge  of  modern  Europe  and  its  affairs  and  his  great  skill  as 
a  writer  (Mr.  Marriott)  has  pro<Tuced  a  most  interesting  book.  His  work  should  count  as 
the  standard  treatise  on  the  subject,  not  alone  in  this  country.' — Professor  Margoltonth  in 
the  Moslem.  World. 

THE   GREAT  EUROPEAN   TREATIES  of  the   Nine- 

teenth  Century,  edited  \>y  Sir  Augustus  Oakes  and  R.  B.  Mowat,  with  an 
introduction  by  Sir  H.  Erle  Richards.  1918.  Pp.  xii  +  404.  with  ten 
maps.     7s.  6d.  net. 

'It  was  a  happy  inspiration  which  suggested  the  publication  in  a  cheap  and  handvform 
of  the  texLs  of  the  principal  European  treaties  of  the  nineteenth  century,  together  with  such 
,notes  and  introductions  as  would  explain  their  significance.  ...  It  supplies  a  greatly  felt 
want ...  Its  numerous  uncoloured  maps  are  the  best  and  clearest  we  remem^r  to  have 
seen.' — Times. 

'Indispensable  to  (the  student)  and  of  the  highest  value  as  a  work  of  reference.' 

Glasgow  Herald. 

DIPLOMACY  and  the  Study  of  International  Relations. 

By  D.  P.  HEATLry.     Pp.  xvi  +  292.  [^In  preparation. 

Written  for  the  guidance  of  historical  students  and  consisting  of  an  essay  on  Diplomacy 
and  the  Conduct  of  Foreign  Policy,  followed  by  a  bibliographical  section  giving  advice  as 
to  the  study  of  International  Relations,  General  Modern  History,  the  Sovereignty  of  the 
Seas,  Treaties,  &c 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


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